The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dropped some of the controversial MPs and replaced them with fresh names as it released its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Terror accused Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur has been replaced with Alok Sharma. Thakur made headlines when she called Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse a “patriot”.
Her remarks were condemned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said that while she has sought an apology, he will not be able to fully forgive her.
Another controversial figure missing from the BJP’s list of candidates is Ramesh Bidhuri, who made abusive remarks against Muslim MP Danish Ali inside the Parliament. Ramvir Singh Bidhuri replaced him as BJP’s new face from South Delhi.
Another controversial Delhi MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, son of former Delhi CM late Sahib Singh Verma, notorious for his anti-Muslim remarks, has also been dropped. The BJP has replaced him with Kamaljit Sehrawat from West Delhi parliamentary constituency.
In 2022, Verma had apparently called for the complete boycott of Muslim community.
“Wherever you see them, if you want to fix their head, if you want to set them straight, then the only cure is total boycott. Raise your hand if you agree,” the BJP MP had said.
Hazaribagh MP Jayant Sinha embarrassed the party when he felicitated six persons accused of lynching a meat trader in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh in 2017. After the accused were released on bail, they were taken straight to his residence where he was seen garlanding them. In 2019, he revealed that he and some other BJP leaders provided financial aid to accused.
Sinha has been replaced by Hazaribagh sitting MLA Manish Jaiswal. Hours before the BJP released its list of candidates, he asked party chief JP Nadda to be relieved of political duties.