The BJP won 71 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 Union elections.
The BJP announced a list of 149 candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, to be held in seven phases between February 11 and March 8. Most of the candidates announced today will contest the polls in the first two phases on February 11 and 15. The party's Central Election Committee met last night to finalise the candidates. It will meet again, tomorrow, to discuss other prospective candidates for the polls.
Among the candidates released by the party, former UP BJP chief Laxmikant Vajpayee will seek to retain the Meerut constituency whereas Sandeep Singh, grandson of former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, will contest the poll in Atrauli. The party also announced its national secretary Shrikant Sharma as their candidate in Mathura.
The party has also retained incumbent legislators Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana, both accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots.
The list was released by Union Health Minister J P Nadda, who said that the party has accommodated various sections of the society.
The list, interestingly, did not feature the name of Pankaj Singh - son of Union Home Minister and former Chief Minister Rajnath Singh - who is widely speculated to contest the UP polls.
According to news agency PTI, despite the entry of many state leaders from other parties into the BJP, former BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya is unhappy with the leadership over the choice of contestants.
The BJP has been out of power in the state of Uttar Pradesh since 2002. It seeks to regain power in the state, which gave them 71 seats in the 2014 Union elections.
(with inputs from PTI)