Lucknow, Mar 26 (PTI) The BJP has so far given Lok Sabha tickets to three Uttar Pradesh cabinet ministers, a move seen as the party's recognition of the work done by these leaders.
Names of two state cabinet ministers -- Rita Bhauguna Joshi (Allahabad) and Satyadev Pachauri (Kanpur) -- were announced by the party in its 10th list of candidates on Wednesday. The saffron party had in its first list named another state cabinet minister, S P Singh Baghel, as it candidate from Agra (SC).
"The party took the decision to increase the role of the cabinet ministers based on the demand of the party workers and the performance of these ministers," state BJP spokesperson Chandra Mohan said.
Joshi is the minister for women, family, mother and child welfare, besides tourism in the council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Pachauri is the minister for khadi village industries, sericulture, textile, micro, small and medium enterprises, export promotion. Baghel is the minister for animal husbandry, minor irrigation and fisheries.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Joshi had contested from the Lucknow parliamentary constituency on a Congress ticket and lost to Rajnath Singh of the BJP.
In addition to these three UP cabinet ministers, the BJP has given ticket to Sangh Mitra Maurya, daughter of Swami Prasad Maurya, another cabinet minister. Sangh Mitra Maurya, the labour, employment and coordination minister, has been made the party candidate from Badaun.
On Jaya Prada being made the BJP candidate from Rampur, Mohan said: "The people of Rampur will hand over a comprehensive defeat to Azam Khan in Rampur." The Samajwadi Party had on Monday decided to field senior leader Azam Khan from Rampur.
National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairman Ram Shankar Katheria, who had won from Agra in 2014, has been fielded from Etawah, replacing Ashok Kumar Doharey.
Bhadohi MP Virendra Singh Mast, who is also the president of the party's Kisan Morcha, has been given a ticket from Ballia.
BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey will be contesting from his parliamentary constituency of Chandauli, while Union minister Manoj Sinha will be testing the electoral waters from Ghazipur, where he had registered a win in 2014.
The saffron party fielded Akshaywar Lal Gaud from Bahraich (SC) as the sitting MP Savitribai Phule had recently switched to the Congress.
The party has re-nominated Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti as it candidate from Fatehpur.
Some MPs who have been dropped by the party apart from stalwart Murli Manohar Joshi (Kanpur) are: Priyanka Rawat (Barabanki-SC), Ashok Dohrey (Etawah-SC), Bharat Singh (Ballia), Rajesh Pandey (Kushinagar) and Nepal Singh (Rampur).
