Hyderabad: The BJP has dropped its sitting MP from Adilabad as it announced candidates for six more Lok Sabha seats from Telangana in its second list on Wednesday.
Four of the candidates announced by the BJP had joined the party three days ago after leaving the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Congress.
BJP’s national Vice President D.K. Aruna will contest again from Mahabubnagar while former MLA M. Raghunandan Rao will enter the fray from Medak.
With this, the BJP has announced candidates for 15 out of the state’s 17 Lok Sabha seats.
The party has kept pending the announcements for Khammam and Warangal seats.
Former MP Godam Nagesh, who was among those who defected from the BRS, has been fielded from the Adilabad constituency.
The BJP dropped sitting MP Soyam Bapu Rao, who had landed in a controversy last year after admitting on camera that he misused MPLADS funds for personal use.
In 2019, Nagesh contested on a BRS ticket and suffered defeat at the hands of Bapu Rao.
Former BRS MP Sitaram Naik will contest from Mahabubabad constituency on BJP ticket. He was upset with the BRS leadership after it denied him a ticket from Mahabubabad and once again fielded sitting MP Maloth Kavitha.
Former MLA S. Saidi Reddy, who too had switched loyalties from the BRS to the BJP, has been fielded from Nalgonda. He was elected to the Assembly on a BRS ticket from Huzurnagar in the by-election in 2019 but suffered a defeat in the recent polls.
The BJP has fielded Gomasa Srinivas, who had quit Congress to join the party recently, from Peddapalli constituency.
It had announced the first list of nine candidates on March 2. The list had three sitting MPs including Union Tourism and Culture Minister and state BJP President G. Kishan Reddy. Two leaders who had defected from the BRS were also named as candidates.
The BJP had bagged four Lok Sabha seats in 2019. This was its best-ever performance. This time, the party has set the goal of winning more than 12 seats.
–IANS
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