BJP’s first list for Uttar Pradesh out

First selection of 149 candidates includes Muzaffarnagar riot accused

: The first list of 149 candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls released by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday includes the names of Muzaffarnagar riot accused Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana.

Mr. Som is the sitting MLA from the Sardhana Assembly constituency and will contest from the same seat. Mr. Rana is the sitting BJP MLA from Thana Bhawan.

The first list was released for the first and second phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, which will be held on February 11 and 15 for 73 and 67 seats respectively.

The party is also fielding Suchi Mausham Chaudhary, wife of Aishwarya Chaudhary, the prime accused in the Bijnor violence, from Bijnor.

Also in the fray is Pachhalika Singh, who left the Samajwadi Party (SP) from the Bah Assembly constituency in the Agra district just 24 hours ago.

Mahaveer Rana and Dharam Singh Saini, who joined the BJP after leaving the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), have been fielded from the Saharanpur district’s Behat and Nakur Assembly seats respectively. Out of the seven candidates in Saharanpur, four are ‘outsiders’.

Puran Prakash, who joined the BJP from the Lok Dal, will contest from Baldev.