BJP announces first list of candidates for assembly bypolls in 9 states

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s Central Election Committee met on Sunday in the capital and announced the first list of candidates for by-elections to assembly constituencies in nine states.

The by-polls will be held in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

From Assam, Bijay Malakar will contest from the Ratabari (SC) constituency, Towfiqur Rahman from Jania, Rajen Borthakur from Rangapara while Nabanita Handique has been finalised to contest on a BJP ticket from the Sonari constituency.

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In Bihar, Switi Singh has been fielded from Kishanganj. September 30 is the last date for filing nominations in the state. The October 21 bypolls in Bihar are being billed as the semi final to the 2020 assembly elections, which is likely to be a fierce electoral battle for the grand opposition alliance, comprising of the RJD and the Congress.

Although the BJP has not been very successful in the Kishanganj assembly segment in the past, this time around the minority dominated seat could go the BJP’s Sweeti Singh’s way. The assembly segment was represented by her husband in the past.

Lachuram Kashyap has been chosen to represent the Chitrakot (ST) assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh.

In Himachal Pradesh, Vishal Nehriya is the BJP’s candidate from the Dharamshala assembly segment while Reena Kashyap will represent the party in the Pachhad (SC) seat.

Bypolls will be held in five assembly constituencies in Kerala on October 21. The byelection will be held in Vattiyoorkavu, Konni, Alroor, Ernakulam and Manjeswaram. Apart from Manjeswaram, other four seats in Kerala fell vacant after the sitting MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha in May 2019.

Raveesh Thantri Kuntar is the BJP nominee from Manjeshwar, while C G Rajagopal will contest from Ernakulam, K P Prakash Babu from Aroor, K Surendran from the Konni seat and S Suresh will represent the Vattiyoorkavu assembly segment in Kerala.

Only one assembly constituency will go for bypolls in Madhya Pradesh. Bhanu Bhuriya is the BJP candidate who will contest from the Jhabua (ST) seat in the state.

In Meghalaya and Odisha too, bypolls will be held in only one assembly segment from each state. Joshua Warjri will represent the BJP from the Shella (ST) assembly seat in Meghalaya and Sanat Gadtia will contest on a BJP ticket from the Bijepur seat in Odisha.

Bypolls will be held in two assembly constituencies in Punjab with Rajesh Bagga being the BJP nominee from Phagwara (SC) and Jangi Lal Mahajan contesting on a BJP ticket from Mukerian.

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Former Indian Hockey team captain Sandeep Singh, Olympic wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and wrestler Babita Phogat, who recently joined the BJP, are likely to be fielded by the party for the Haryana assembly polls to be held on October 21. The list of names for the Haryana bypolls are expected to be declared later today.

Besides Haryana, the names of candidates for the Maharashtra elections are also likely to be finalised by the BJP’s central election committee later on Sunday. However, the BJP is yet to reach an agreement on seat distribution with its ally Shiv Sena. In the previous assembly, both the BJP and the Shiv Sena had contested separately. But after the results, both the parties formed an alliance to form the government in Maharashtra.