New Delhi:
Newly inducted members industrialist Naveen Jindal, Ranjit Chautala and former judge of Calcutta High Court Abhijit Gangopadhyay, and actor Kangana Ranaut have been fielded by the BJP in its fifth election list that was announced this evening.
The party has dropped Varun Gandhi, though his mother Maneka Gandhi has been fielded from Sultanpur. Varun Gandhi’s seat, Pilibhit, has gone to former Congressman Jitin Prasada, who changed sides in the run-up to the election.
Senior leader K Surendran will contest against Congress’s Rahul Gandhi from Kerala’s Wayanad.
Kangana Ranaut will contest her first election from Mandi in her home state Himachal Pradesh.
Former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit GAngopadhya, who joined the BJP recently after taking voluntary retirement, will contest from Bengal’s Tamluk.
He is the first retired judge to join electoral politics, moving away from the way the judiciary has so far distanced itself.
From Odisha, where the BJP formed alliance with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal, the party fielded two key leaders — Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan from Sambhalpur and Sambit Patra from Puri.
