New Delhi: In the run-up to 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released the first list of 195 candidates giving representation to every section of society.    

The list features name of various high-profile BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will contest Lok Sabha polls from the Varansi seat in Uttar Pradesh. 

Further, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will fight from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, and Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani from Amethi. 

BJP Lok Sabha First List: 14% Women, 52% Candidates from Backward Class

Giving representation to all sections of society in the list of 195 candidates, BJP named 34 (17%) women candidates, 27(13.84%) from Schedule Caste (SC) community, 18 (9.23%) from Schedule Tribe, and 57 (29.23%) from the Other Backward Class (OBC) community.   

Key Details: 

• 34 Candidates (17%) candidates are sitting Union Ministers.
• 47 candidates (24.1%) are below the age of 50 years.
• Collectively, 52.30% of the 195 candidates belong to ST/SC and OBCs. 

Of the 195, at least 51 are from Uttar Pradesh, 20 from West Bengal and five from Delhi. The list, which has names of 34 Union Ministers and Ministers of State, comes days before the dates of Lok Sabha polls - to be held in April-May - are announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI).  The list was read out by BJP National Vice President Jay Panda and BJP National General Secretary, Vinod Tawde.

Among other Union Ministers, Jyotiraditya Scindia has been fielded from Guna, Arjun Meghwal will contest from Bikaner, Bhuepndra Yadav from Alwar. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla will contest from Kota while former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Chouhan from Vidisha. 

The BJP has kept target of 370+ seats target for the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and 400+ for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

BJP Lok Sabha Full List: