The BJP on Saturday named its candidates for 11 more Lok Sabha constituencies, fielding a number of leaders who joined it from different parties recently such as Bhartruhari Mahtab, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Sushil Kumar Rinku and Preneet Kaur. All these leaders have been fielded from the seats they represent in the outgoing Lok Sabha, while former Indian ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu will be making his poll debut from Amritsar.
Six-time MP Mahtab, who recently quit the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), has been field from Cuttack. Kaur, suspended Congress MP and wife of former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, is contesting from Patiala. A four-time MP and a former Union Minister, Kaur joined had the BJP in the presence of senior leaders at the BJP headquarters earlier this month.
Hans Raj Hans, who had won from North West Delhi in 2019 on a BJP ticket, will contest from the Faridkot seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs). The BJP on Sunday named two candidates from West Bengal, three from Odisha and six from Punjab. It has so far announced its candidates for 411 seats. The party dropped actor Sunny Deol and fielded Dinesh Singh “Babbu” from Gurdaspur.
Sandhu, who joined the BJP on March 19, served as Ambassador to the United States from February 2020 to January 2024. He is one of the most experienced former diplomats on US affairs, having served in the Indian Mission in Washington DC.
Before his assignment in Washington DC, Sandhu was High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka from January 2017 to January 2020.
He had also served at the High Commission of India, Colombo earlier as the Head of the Political Wing from December 2000 to September 2004.
Sandhu was Consul General of India in Frankfurt from September 2011 to July 2013. He has worked in the Ministry of External Affairs in various capacities: as Joint Secretary (UN) from March 2009 to August 2011; and later as Joint Secretary (Administration) heading the Human Resource Division. He also served as an Officer on Special Duty (Press Relations), at the Ministry of External Affairs from December 1995 to March 1997.
Veteran Parliamentarian Mahtab, who quit the BJD recently, will contest from Cuttack, Bittu, who quit from the Congress, will contest from Ludhiana, Kaur from Patiala, and Rinku from Jalandhar, a seat reserved for SCs.
Both Bittu, the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, and Kaur, the wife of former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, were in the Congress before joining the BJP, while Rinku was in the Aam Aadmi Party. Dinesh Singh ‘Babbu’ will contest from Gurdaspur. From Odisha, it has given a ticket to Dr. Rabindra Narayan Behera from Jajpur (SC), Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi from Kandhamal and Mahtab from Cuttack. The BJP had earlier announced the names of candidates for the rest of 18 seats in the state.
The party has also announced names of two candidates for West Bengal’s Jhargram and Birbhum seats where it has fielded Dr Pranat Tudu and IPS officer Debashish Dhar respectively.
