BJP announces 10 candidates for Andhra assembly polls, drops another MP in Karnataka

Also Read: Why Karnataka BJP is confident dissent won’t affect its poll prospects

In Andhra Pradesh

The saffron party is set to contest 10 out of the total 175 Assembly constituencies and six out of the total 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh.

BJP released a list of candidates for six out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. In Wednesday’s list, the party released the names of all 10 Assembly poll candidates.

According to the earlier list, Andhra BJP chief Daggubati Purandeswari was set to contest only the Lok Sabha seat of Rajahmundry, and was not in the Assembly election fray.

The 10 candidates the BJP announced for the Assembly elections are:

1. Eswara Rao for Etcherla
2. Former MLA P Vishnu Kumar Raju for Visakhapatnam North
3. Pangi Rajarao for Araku Valley (ST)
4. M Shiva Kumar Raju for Anaparthy
5. Kamineni Srinivas Rao for Kaikalur
6. Former Rajya Sabha member Y Srujana Chowdhury for Vijayawada West
7. Bojja Roshanna for Badvel (SC)
8. Former minister Adinarayana Reddy for Jammalamadugu
9. PV Parthasarathi for Adoni
10. BJP national secretary Y Satya Kumar for Dharmavaram.

Among these seats, Vishakha North, Kaikalur, and Vijayawada West were contested in 2014 in alliance with the TDP-JSP and were won.

It may be noted that the BJP named two candidates from the same seats that its ally TDP announced nominees. However, there’s more to that.

In its first list on 24 February, the TDP announced Siyyari Donnu Dora from Araku Valley (ST), and Nallimilli Rama Krishna Reddy from Anaparthy.

However, that was before the BJP joined the alliance, whose formal announcement came only on 9 March.

The BJP, in its Wednesday list, has named candidates for Araku Valley and Anaparthy.

With this announcement, only eight seats for the TDP and three for the Jana Sena need to see their candidates named.

The Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided on the following names for the upcoming Legislative Assembly Elections of Andhra Pradesh. Besides, the candidature of Shri Nayab Singh Saini has been decided for the ensuing Bye-Election to the Legislative… pic.twitter.com/c8XW0dRQxX

— BJP (@BJP4India) March 27, 2024

Also Read: Disgruntlement over ticket distribution will be resolved, says Vijayendra

Rumblings in BJP-TDP-JSP ranks

Meanwhile, former YSRCP MP Kanumuru Raghu Rama Krishna Raju received a shock on Sunday

He was keen to join the BJP and contest from the Narasapuram Lok Sabha seat, but the party nominated Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma.

Raghu Rama has since threatened that if the BJP and the TDP-JSP did not reverse the decision, he might contest as an independent.

Similar is the case with Vijayawada West, where Jana Sena in-charge Pothineni Mahesh is threatening to contest as an independent after not being given the ticket promised by party chief Pawan Kalyan.

Also Read: Karnataka BJP lodges complaint with EC over fake WhatsApp message

Another incumbent MP dropped in Karnataka

Meanwhile, the BJP high command replaced yet another sitting MP in Karnataka, fielding senior Dalit leader and former deputy chief minister Govind Karjol from the Chitradurga (SC) seat.

Karjol will be contesting in place of current Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment A Narayanasamy, who earlier announced his retirement from electoral politics.

The BJP released its final list of candidates for Karnataka on Wednesday, 27 March. The party has already announced candidates for 24 seats in the state, barring the Chitradurga (SC) segment.

BJP and JD(S) are fighting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance in Karnataka. The BJP will be contesting in 25 seats, whereas the JD(S) will be fighting in three seats.

After much deliberations and political strategy, the party fielded 73-year-old Karjol from the seat. Karjol has won five times from Bagalkot’s Mudhol (SC) Assembly segment.

It may be noted that Karjol was defeated by the Congress’ RB Thimmapur in the 2023 Assembly polls, which was his first loss in the state-level polls since 2004.

On condition of anonymity, a BJP leader told South First: “Karjol was not interested in contesting the Lok Sabha elections. But the party high command pressured him into it.”

He noted: “There are 4.8 lakh SC voters in Chitradurga alone. Apart from this, the other dominant communities — such as Nayak, Golla, and Reddy — also support the BJP.”

The leader added: “The party has a strong voter base in this SC-reserved seat. Hence, considering the caste equations and party popularity, the party opted for Karjol.”

भारतीय जनता पार्टी की केन्द्रीय चुनाव समिति ने आगामी लोकसभा चुनाव 2024 के लिए निम्नलिखित नामों पर अपनी स्वीकृति प्रदान की है। pic.twitter.com/YKfkc4jSEj

— BJP (@BJP4India) March 27, 2024

(Edited by Arkadev Ghoshal)