BJP announces candidates for Lok Sabha, Assembly bypolls

Battle royal on the cards for the three Lok Sabha and 16 Assembly constituencies in different states. The BJP has announced its nominees for the bypolls, which are scheduled for October 30, and the counting of votes will begin on November 2.

New Delhi: Battlelines will be drawn for the byelections, which are slated for October 30. The BJP on Thursday announced candidates for the bypolls of three Lok Sabha and 16 Assembly constituencies for different states. In a statement, BJP national General Secretary Arun Singh said, "Central Election Committee of BJP has approved names for Lok Sabha and Assembly bypolls." The BJP has announced Mahesh Gavit as the party candidate from Dadar and Nagar Haveli Lok Sabha constituency.

From the Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh, BJP has given a ticket to Gyaneshwar Patil. Brigadier Khushal Thakur is the BJP candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency in Himachal Pradesh. For the Assembly bypolls, the BJP announced 16 candidates.

Punthala Suresh will contest from the Badvei Assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh on a BJP ticket. The party has nominated Govind Kanda as the party candidate from Ellenabad Assembly seat in Haryana.

For three Assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh, BJP has given tickets to Baldev Thakur (Fatehpur), Ratan Pal Singh (Arki) and Neelam Saraik (Jubbal Kotkhai). Ramesh Bhusanuru and Shivaraj Sajjanar are fielded from Sindgi and Hangal Assembly constituency of Karnataka respectively. For three Assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has announced Dr Shishupal Singh Yadav (Prithvipur), Pratima Bagri (Raigaon) and Sulochana Rawat (Jobat) as its candidates.

BJP has fielded Ashok Mondal from the Dinhata Assembly constituency in West Bengal; Niranjan Biswas (Santipur), Joy Saha (Khardaha) and Palash Rana (Gosaba) Assembly seats in West Bengal. On Monday the BJP had announced three candidates for the Assembly bypolls of Assam. On Sunday, the party announced candidates for the Assembly bypolls of Maharashtra, Mizoram and Telangana.

On September 28, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the poll schedule to fill vacancies in three Parliamentary constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The ECI also announced the scheduled bypolls to fill 30 vacancies in Assembly Constituencies of various States. As per the schedule, polling will be held on October 30 and the counting of votes will take place on November 2.