BJP Releases 10th List For Lok Sabha Polls: Kirron Kher Dropped From Chandigarh, Ahluwalia To Face Shatrughan In Asansol

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released its 10th list of 9 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha Election 2024. The list has eight new names, while the party replaced its candidate from West Bengal’s Asansol. The party has earlier fielded Bhojpuri star Pawan Singh from Asansol, who has now been replaced by SS Ahluwalia.

Of the 8 new names, 7 are from UP and one from Chandigarh where the party replaced sitting MP Kirron Kher with Sanjay Tandon. The saffron party has fielded Neeraj Shekhar, son of former PM Chandrashekhar, from UP’s Ballia, Parasnath Rai from Ghazipur, Jaiveer Singh from Mainpuri, Vinod Sonkar From Kaushambi, Praveen Patel from Phulpur, Neeraj Tripathi from Allahabad, and BP Saroj from Machhlishahr.

The Asansol Flip Flop

The BJP on Wednesday announced the nomination of former Union minister SS Ahluwalia from the Asansol Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal. Ahluwalia would take on TMC’s heavyweight candidate and the party’s star face, Shatrughan Sinha, in Asansol, an industrial hub encapsulating the state’s coal belt.

The BJP had previously replaced Ahluwalia, the party’s sitting MP from the Burdwan-Durgapur seat, with former state president Dilip Ghosh as candidate for the constituency. Ghosh was, in turn, moved from his erstwhile winning seat Medinipur to fight for his prospects in Ahluwalia’s turf.

Although the BJP had initially announced the name of Bhojpuri singer-actor Pawan Singh as its candidate from Asansol, the seat remained unrepresented by the party till now following Singh’s refusal to contest from the constituency.

Pawan Singh withdrew from the Lok Sabha race last month after he drew the ire of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders for allegedly “mocking and targeting” Bengali women in his videos and movies.

In a post on X, TMC leader Babul Supriyo shared some posters of music videos and movies and wrote, “nothing against Pawanji the artist, but if these posters are true, then it clearly shows what kind of respect @BJP4India has for Bengal & especially for women from Bengal.”

On these allegations, Singh challenged Supriyo saying that he would quit singing and politics if he can “prove that these songs on the poster correct”.

 Kirron Kher Replaced With Sanjay Tandon

Announcing its 10th list, the BJP announced Sanjay Tandon as its candidate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, replacing two-time MP Kirron Kher. Notably, Tandon is the party’s co-incharge for Himachal Pradesh and is the son of former Chhattisgarh governor late Balramji Das Tandon who was one of the founding members of the Jan Sangh.

Soon after the list was announced, Kher congratulated Tandon and shared a picture with him on X. “Congratulations @SanjayTandonBJP Ji on being selected as the BJP candidate for the Chandigarh constituency. Wishing you all the best in your campaign ahead,” she wrote.

Tandon had also served as the Chandigarh BJP president for nearly a decade in the past.