PM Modi, Vivek Oberoi, Hema Malini among 34 BJP star campaigners in Gujarat

With less than one week left for 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released a list of 34 star campaigners for Gujarat. The list features Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi along with several prominent figures from the BJP such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and many others.

"BJP releases list of star campaigners in Gujarat for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 and by-election in the state. Actor Vivek Oberoi is also included in the list," the news agency ANI tweeted along with a list of 34 star campaigners in the state.

BJP releases list of star campaigners in Gujarat for #LokSabhaElections2019 and by-election in the state. Actor Vivek Oberoi is also included in the list. The 26 Parliamentary constituencies of the state will undergo polling in the third phase of elections on 23rd April. pic.twitter.com/PC5lKcD3mp

— ANI (@ANI) April 5, 2019

MEA Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are also among the leaders who will lead the electioneering in the state ahead of the General Elections 2019.

Apart from them, veteran B-town actress Hema Malini, Union Minister Smriti Irani, Uma Bharti and former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje will also come to the state to support the BJP candidates.

So far, the BJP has declared candidates on 25 out of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The saffron outfit has dropped its sitting MPs on nine seats and renominated 16 Members of Parliament, who were elected in 2014.

In Mehsana, the BJP has given ticket to Shardaben Patel, the wife of late BJP leader Anil Patel, replacing its sitting MP Jayshree Patel. Mehsana is a crucial seat for the BJP as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthplace Vadnagar is located in the district.

The BJP retained sitting Surat MP Darshana Jardosh, who has won from the seat two times. Ahmedabad East is the only Lok Sabha seat, where the party is yet to declare its candidate.

Veteran actor Paresh Rawal is the sitting MP from Ahmedabad East and he has decided not to contest polls this time citing his busy acting schedule. Among prominent MPs, the party has dropped patriarch L K Advani (91) from the Gandhinagar seat and Union minister Haribhai Chaudhary from Banaskantha.

The BJP has fielded its president Amit Shah from Gandhinagar, a prestigious seat held by Advani since 1991. Shah filed his nomination papers from the Gandhinagar seat last Saturday after taking out a massive rally and road show in the constituency.

Elections to 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will take place in a single phase on April 23. Seven-phase Lok Sabha Election is scheduled to ne held between April 11 and May 19. The counting of votes for all phases will be taken up on May 23, 2019.