BJP finalises names of candidates for 45 seats in UP, CEC to take final call: Sources

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The BJP has finalised the names of candidates from 45 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, sources told Zee Media.

Sources added that the final decision on the names will be taken during the meeting of Central Election Committe of the party. BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday held a meeting with Core Group of Uttar Pradesh BJP.

The party has finalised the names of candidates for the first phase of polling from Western Uttar Pradesh. Sources said that the BJP has decided to field the sitting MPs from Ghaziabad, Noida, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat and Saharanpur but the party is planning to field new faces from Bijnore and Kairana.

Kairana seat was won by the BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha poll but the party lost the seat to RLD in bypoll held in 2017 after the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh. In 2017 bypoll, BJP had given ticket to Hukum Singh's daughter Mriganka Singh.

The BJP is also expected to give the ticket from Aligarh to its sitting MP Satish Kumar Gautam. At present, General V K Singh is MP from Ghaziabad, while Union Minister Dr Mahesh Sharma is BJP MP from Noida. Another Union Minister Satyapal Singh is BJP MP from Baghpat. Rajendra Agarwala is MP from Meerut, raghav Lakhanpal from Saharanpur and Sanjeev Baliyan is MP from Muzaffarnagar.

BJP sources said that the party has also finalised the names of candidates from Varanasi, Lucknow, Amethi and Mathura.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to contest again from Varanasi, while Home Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to enter the fray again from Lucknow. Smriti Irani and Hema Malini are expected to be BJP's candidates from Amethi and Mathura respectively