BJP's First List of Candidates: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in its first list for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024, has fielded at least 8 film stars and celebrities from various constituencies featuring the names of Hema Malini, Ravi Kishan and Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh among others. Not only this, Indian Paralympic Javelin Thrower Devendra Jhajharia has also been mentioned in the first list of the BJP for the upcoming parliamentary elections from the Churu Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan.

The BJP on Saturday released its first list of 195 candidates, who will be contesting the Lok Sabha elections on party’s ticket for various states. The list features several prominent faces from the party including Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself from Varanasi. Along with the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will contest the elections from Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow.

Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh will contest the polls for the first time

Among several known names in Bharatiya Janata Party’s first list of candidates, it also features 8 celebrities and film stars, who will be contesting on the party’s ticket. Notably, the list includes the names of a few celebrities who will be contesting the polls for the first time.

The list includes the names such as:

• Bhojpuri actor and singer Manoj Tiwari will contest from Northeast Delhi. He is the sitting Lok Sabha MP from the seat and has been representing the seat since 2014. Among those 5 Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, where party has declared its candidate, Tiwari is the only name who has been retained.
• Bollywood and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan will contest from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur seat. He has been representing the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency since 2019 in the Parliament as the BJP MP.
• Bhojpuri actor and Singh Pawan Singh has been fielded by the BJP from West Bengal’s Asansol Lok Sabha seat. The famous Bhojpuri film star will be contesting the polls for the first time.
• Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani, who is a former actress and television producer, will contest the upcoming polls from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi Lok Sabha constituency. She is a sitting MP from the seat since 2019. Smriti Irani had won the seat after defeating Congress MP Rahul Gandhi during the last Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
• Hema Malini, who will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from the Mathura constituency in Uttar Pradesh, is a famous actor, director and producer. She is also a sitting BJP MP representing the Mathura Lok Sabha seat since 2014.
• Dinesh Lal Yadav alias Nirahua, who is also a Bhojpuri film actor, has been made BJP candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency. Nirahua, was elected as member of Lok Sabha from the Azamgarh seat during 2022 bypolls, after getting defeated by former-Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
• Locket Chatterjee, who is the sitting BJP parliamentarian in Lok Sabha, was an actress and dancer, especially featuring in several Bengali movies. Chatterjee, who represents the Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal since 2019, will be contesting the polls from the same seat.
• Suresh Gopi, a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, is a famous singer and an Indian actor predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema, has been given the ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls by the BJP. He will be contesting from the Thrissur constituency in Kerala.
• Indian athlete Devendra Jhajharia, who has been named by the party as a candidate from the Churu Lok Sabha constituency in Rajasthan. Jhajharia is an Indian Paralympic javelin thrower competing in F46 events. He is the first Indian Paralympics player to win two gold medals at the Paralympics.