The Bharatiya Janata Party has so far announced names of 398 candidates and the party has replaced 94 sitting MPs. This means the party has fielded 94 fresh faces in the Lok Sabha Elections so far. Many prominent leaders including Union Ministers were denied a ticket this time including General (Retd) VK Singh and Ashwini Kumar Choubey. While the BJP's Central Election Committee includes JP Nadda, Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh among other leaders, takes a final call about the candidate list, the list this time has a glimpse of PM Narendra Modi's warning. While some MPs have been replaced to mitigate anti-incumbency, some have been denied tickets for their off-the-cuff remarks.


PM Modi's Message To MPs


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Ahead of the elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met BJP MPs at least two times within the last year. During both meetings, Prime Minister Modi urged the MPs to create awareness among the public about the central government schemes. Besides this, PM Modi also warned the MPs to stay away from controversial statements and not to make remarks that put the party in a tight spot.


Repercussion On BJP Candidate List


Despite Prime Minister Modi's warning, several BJP MPs continued to rake up controversies. PM Modi was reportedly keeping a tab on all these leaders and continued to take feedback about the leaders. Now, the BJP has so far denied tickets to at least four MPs who did not pay heed to PM Modi's advice. The list includes Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha MP Anantkumar Hegde, firebrand woman leader and MP Pragya Singh Thakur from Bhopal, South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri and West Delhi Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma.


Clear Message To Incumbent, Future MPs


The denial of tickets to controversial Parliamentarians sends a clear message to incumbent BJP MPs and to those also who will get elected after the 2024 Polls. The message is clear - Don't Make Controversial Statements and Focus On Developmental Works. This will also send a message to the voters that the party is not siding with the leaders who make controversial statements.


The Election Commission of India has announced the Lok Sabha Election dates and the voting will be held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.