BJP announces Lok Sabha by-election candidates for Bihar, Uttar Pradesh seats

The BJP on Monday announced its candidates for the Lok Sabha by-elections next month, choosing seasoned organisational leader Upendra Shukla for Gorakhpur and former Varanasi mayor Kaushalendra Singh Patel for Phulpur.

The two seats in Uttar Pradesh fell vacant after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya resigned from the Lok Sabha following their appointments last year in 2017.

The choice of Shukla is seen as an outreach by the party to Brahmins, who are the largest upper caste community in the state and have been its traditional supporters.

Also Read: Congress announces its faces for Gorakhpur, Phulpur bypolls, takes everyone by surprise

The party also announced its candidates in Bihar, naming Pradeep Singh as its nominee for the Araria Lok Sabha by-poll and Rinki Pandey for the Bhabua assembly by-election.

List of BJP candidates for the bye-elections to the Parliamentary & Legislative Assembly constituencies of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. https://t.co/JRYxwCQqzQ pic.twitter.com/jV7p50T4Np

— BJP (@BJP4India) February 19, 2018

Singh, a former Araria MP, had lost to RJD's Taslimuddin in 2014.

The by-elections are scheduled to be held on March 11.