As BJP releases candidate list for Lok Sabha polls, PM Modi looks forward to 'serving my sisters and brothers of Kashi for third time'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, March 2, thanked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership after the party revealed its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls due this year and announced that the PM would fight from the Varanasi seat in Uttar Pradesh. The first list of candidates prepared by the Centre-ruling BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) contained 195 candidates contesting seats in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala, Telangana, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttrakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Goa and Andaman.  

“I thank the BJP leadership and bow to the crores of selfless Party Karyakartas (workers) for their constant faith in me. I look forward to serving my sisters and brothers of Kashi for the third time,” PM Modi wrote in a post on microblogging site X (formerly known as Twitter). 

I thank the @BJP4India leadership and bow to the crores of selfless Party Karyakartas for their constant faith in me. I look forward to serving my sisters and brothers of Kashi for the third time.

In 2014, I went to Kashi with a commitment to fulfil people’s dreams and empower…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 2, 2024

“In 2014, I went to Kashi with a commitment to fulfil people’s dreams and empower the poorest of the poor. Over the last ten years, we have made significant progress across various sectors and worked towards a better Kashi. These efforts will continue with even greater vigour,” PM Modi wrote. 

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The Prime Minister also wrote: “I would also like to convey a special gratitude to the people of Kashi for their blessings, which I cherish greatly.”

Among the notable Union Ministers in the BJP’s first list of candidates for the upcoming general election were Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Bhupender Yadav, Mansukh Mandaviya, Sarbananda Sonowal, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Arjun Ram Meghwal, G Kishan Reddy, Arjun Munda and Smriti Irani. Home Minister Amit Shah will contest from Gandhinagar, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya from Porbandar, and Sarbananda Sonowal from Dibrugarh.

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The first list of candidates includes 34 ministers from both the Union and state levels, along with the name of the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The announced names included those for 51 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 20 in West Bengal and five in Delhi. 28 women, and 47 young leaders in BJP's first list of Lok Sabha candidates for 16 States and Union Territories.

With inputs from agencies