Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: BJP on Wednesday declared the third list of candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The list comprises of 77 candidates.
Releasing the list, senior BJP leader Anant Kumar said, “Corruption, whether in Mayawati government or Central government will be the main poll issue for the party".
Sacchidanand Hari Sakshi Maharaj, who has been Lok Sabha MP from Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh three times, will be the BJP candidate from Bhongaon in Western UP.
The controversial leader had faced rape charges from two women in 2000 and had to spend a month in Tihar and Etah
jails. He was exonerated in 2001 due to lack of evidence. He was then a Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP.
Mahesh Sharma, who had contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, will be the candidate from Noida.
Sitting MLA Ashok Kansal will contest from Muzaffarnagar while Udaybhan Karvariya, also an MLA, will be in the fray from Allahabad North.
Prominent among the candidates declared by BJP in the list are Aligarh Mayor Ashutosh Varshney (Aligarh); former MPs Padamsen Choudhary (Matera), Chhatrapal Singh (Anupshahr) and Nawab Singh Nagar (Dadri); ex-Deputy mayor of Allahabad Anamika Choudhary (Karchhna); and former ministers Jaipal Singh Gurjar (Kithore) and Rajendra Singh Choudhan (Patiyali).
Former MLAs who have managed to get the ticket this time include: Shashibala Pundir (Deoband), Samarpal Singh (Siwal Khas), Krishnavir Sirohi (Garmukhteshwar), Pranat Pal Singh (Mant), Ajay Pohiya (Baldev-SC), Narendra Singh Rathore (Mainpuri), Kashinath Kori (Kadipur-SC), Satyadev Pachouri (Govindnagar) and Santram Sanger (Madhaugarh).
The saffron party had earlier declared the first and second lists of candidates for UP elections comprising of 143 seats and 81 seats respectively.
