BJP retains 19 sitting MPs in UP first list

MEERUT: Bharatiya Janata Party dropped just six sitting MPs in the first list of 27 UP candidates for Lok Sabhapolls announced on Thursday. PM Narendra Modi will seek reelection from Varanasi and home minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow.


Prominent among those dropped are

Ram Shankar Katheria

from Agra and Union minister Krishna Raj from

Shahjahanpur

. UP Cabinet minister SPS Baghel has replaced Katheria.

While it was expected that BJP would drop about one-third sitting MPs to ward off the impact of anti-incumbency, the first list suggests otherwise. Nineteen sitting MPs have been retained.