Lok Sabha poll: BSP fields Athar Jamal against PM Modi in Varanasi

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) released a new list of eleven candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. Notably, the BSP has nominated Athar Jamal Lari to contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Varanasi parliamentary constituency. The polls are set to take place starting on April 19 and running in seven rounds.

In this new list, the Mainpuri Lok Sabha ticket has been reassigned to Shiv Prasad Yadav, while Shrikala Singh, the wife of incarcerated gangster-turned-politician Dhananjay Singh, has been chosen to run from the Jaunpur constituency.

Other candidates include Muslim Khan for Budaun, Chhotelal Gangwar for Bareilly, Udraj Verma for Sultanpur, Kranti Pandey for Farrukhabad, Mayank Dwivedi for Banda, and Khwaja Shamsuddin for Domariaganj. Additionally, Lallan Singh Yadav will represent the party in Ballia, while Umesh Kumar Singh will contest from Ghazipur.

The BSP has made a strategic decision to refrain from forming any alliances for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, opting instead to contest independently across the state.

Previously, the BSP had nominated candidates such as Mazid Ali for Saharanpur, Shreepal Singh for Kairana, Dara Singh Prajapati for Muzaffarnagar, and a host of others across various constituencies in the state.

Uttar Pradesh, with its 80 seats in Parliament, holds significant electoral sway and will participate in voting across all seven phases of the election. Phases one and two are scheduled for April 19 and April 26, followed by phases three and four on May 7 and May 13. Vote counting is slated for June 4.