Hyderabad: For the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, political parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, have dropped a significant number of MPs and replaced them with new faces.
The prime reason for this for the ruling party is anti-incumbency. In Delhi, the BJP replaced six of its sitting seven MPs for the polls, which will be held in seven phases from April 19. Prominent among them are former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and senior leader Varun Gandhi.
Feroze Varun Gandhi, son of Sanjay Gandhi and senior BJP leader Maneka Gandhi, was elected to Lok Sabha from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh. He was replaced by Jitin Prasada, who had switched over to the BJP from Congress in 2021.
Gambhir, an MP from East Delhi, was denied the ticket and instead BJP fielded Harsh Malhotra. The same was the fate of BJP MP from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who always remained in controversies. BJP also dropped Dr Ramesh Nishank Pokhriyal, its sitting MP from Haridwar, replacing him with Trivendra Singh Rawat. In Uttarakhand, the BJP denied a ticket to its sitting MP Tirath Singh Rawat from the Garhwal seat.
BJP has replaced Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late Union Minister Sushma Swaraj. Sitting BJP MP and Union Minister Gen (Retd) V K Singh, who was elected to the Lower House of the Parliament from Ghaziabad, has also been denied a ticket to contest the upcoming polls.
BJP dropped five sitting MPs from Gujarat including Darshana Jardosh, who was elected from Surat constituency. BJP also has dropped Dipsinh Rathod from Sabarkantha, KC Patel from Valsad, Bhartiben Shiyal from Bhavnagar and Geeta Rathwa from Chhota Udepur. Another strong reason for the parties not giving a ticket to sitting MPs, is that the particular political party wants to field its senior leaders. Akola MP Sanjay Dhotre, who had won on a BJP ticket, was replaced by his son Anup Dhotre.
Take the example of the Mumbai North seat where BJP MP Gopal Shetty, a popular leader from the region, was denied a ticket, as he made way for Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. Goyal, who is the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, is contesting the Lok Sabha polls for the first time. The same case is with Ramakant Bhargava, who has made his way for former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
In Maharashtra, BJP decided to go in with Pankaja Munde, daughter of former Union Minister late Gopinath Munde, from Beed constituency. Pankaja, a former Maharashtra Minister, replaced her sister Dr Pritam Munde. In Karnataka too, from the Mysuru seat, BJP has dropped sitting MP Prathap Simha and he has been replaced by Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja, who belongs to the Mysuru royal family.
BJP has also dropped its sitting MP from Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka and he has been replaced by Captain Brijesh Chowta. BJP has also dropped Ananthkumar Hegde, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Uttar Kannada. The saffron party has also dropped its sitting MP from Solapur - Mahaswamiji Dr Jaisiddheshwar Shivacharya, and he has been replaced by Ram Satpute, an office-bearer of the BJP Yuva Morcha.
In Himachal Pradesh too, actor Kangana Ranaut has been fielded from the Mandi constituency and so the BJP has dropped its sitting MP from the seat. Congress has also dropped its sitting MP from Goa Francisco Sardinha for the Lok Sabha polls. The grand old party has also dropped Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief and sitting MP from MP Pratibha Singh and instead has given a ticket to her son and Himachal Pradesh Minister Vikramaditya Singh.
In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has dropped sitting MP Hemant Patil from the Hingoli seat. The party also dropped Bhawana Gawali, who was an MP from Yavatmal Washim.
