Update on January 2012: BJP has released another list (fourth list) of candidates for UP Assembly elections 2012. The prominent names in the list of Gopla Tandon, son of Lucknow MP and senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon. The BJP has so far announced 347 candidates out of 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. Sitting MLAs in the present Assembly, Suresh Shrivastav from Lucknow (west), Vidhyasagar Gupta from Lucknow (central), and Suresh Tiwari from Lucknow (cantonment) also secured their tickets for 2012 elections. Following are other candidates:
Singer Shyam Sunder Chouhan (Didarganj, Surendra Pratap Singh (Jaunpur), Prem Agarwal (Rishikesh), Shiv Tapasya Paswan (Chakia (SC) ), Jai Prakash Chaturvedi (Robertsganj), Gopal Singh Rawat (Gangotri), Vijay Singh Panwar (Pratapnagar), Kuldeep Singh (Vikasnagar), Bansidhar Bhagat (Kaldungi), Asha Nautiyal (Kedarnath), Diwan Singh Bhist (Ramnagar), and Arvind Pandey (Dadarpur).
The Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) has announced the first list of candidates for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections to be held during February – March 2012. The BJP has surprised it’s opponents by inviting former Mayawati confidant Babu Singh Kushwaha into its fold. The BJP has also taken another controversial decision to give ticket to Sakshi Maharaj, against whom several cases are in pending. The BJP has released candidates list for 77 Assembly Constituencies. Following are the prominent candidates from the BJP’s first list:
Prominent candidates in the list of BJP are: Aligarh Mayor Ashutosh Varshney (Aligarh), ex-Deputy mayor of Allahabad Anamika Choudhary (Karchhna); former MPs Padamsen Choudhary (Matera), Chhatrapal Singh (Anupshahr) and Nawab Singh Nagar (Dadri); and former ministers Jaipal Singh Gurjar (Kithore) and Rajendra Singh Choudhan (Patiyali).
Former MLAs who were given tickets for this elections also include: Samarpal Singh (Siwal Khas), Pranat Pal Singh (Mant), Krishnavir Sirohi (Garmukhteshwar), Shashibala Pundir (Deoband), Ajay Pohiya (Baldev—SC), Kashinath Kori (Kadipur—SC), Satyadev Pachouri (Govindnagar), Narendra Singh Rathore (Mainpuri) and Santram Sanger (Madhaugarh).
Sacchidanand Hari Sakshi Maharaj: He is contesting as the BJP candidate from Bhongaon Constituency in Western UP. He was Lok Sabha MP from Farrukhabad three times. The BJP has chosen Sakshi Maharaj to counter rebel BJP leader Kalyan Singh. The BJP has also announced 12 candidates for Manipur Assembly elections and for the left over three seats of Punjab. Amritsar MP and formet Cricketer, Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur will contest from Amritsar East Assembly Constituency in Punjab on a BJP ticket. With these announcements, the BJP has declared a total of 301 candidates for the 403 member UP Assembly. The Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav is in the forefront of announcing candidates for the UP elections 2012.
The BJP top leadership is reluctant to give party ticket to Kushwaha, even though he was inducted into the party. But some senior leaders in the BJP are pressing for Assembly ticket for Kushwaha. Bhadshah Singh, ousted cabinet minister of Ms. Mayawati’s Government was also given BJP membership. Mahesh Sharma, who had contested for the Parliament (Lok Sabha) elections in 2009 will be the Party’s candidate from Noida. Sitting MLA of the party, Ashok Kansal will contest from Muzaffarnagar. Udaybhan Karvariya, who is also an MLA will be in the contest from Allahabad North Constituency.