Ahead of BJP's Lok Sabha list, Gautam Gambhir, Jayant Sinha withdraw from race

BJP MP Jayant Sinha on Saturday requested party president JP Nadda to relieve him from direct electoral duties, indicating that he does not wish to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election. According to Sinha, he wants to be relieved so that he can focus on combating global climate change.

“I have requested Hon’ble Party President Shri @JPNaddaji to relieve me of my direct electoral duties so that I can focus my efforts on combating global climate change in Bharat and around the world. Of course, I will continue to work with the party on economic and governance issues,” the BJP MP wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

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He added, “I have had the privilege of serving the people of Bharat and Hazaribagh for the past ten years. Moreover, I have been blessed by the many opportunities provided by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodiji, Hon’ble Home Minister Shri @AmitShahji, and the BJP leadership. My sincerest gratitude to all of them. Jai Hind!”

Jayant Sinha is an MP from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand. Previously, he had served on India's council of ministers from 2014 and 2019, and also the minister of state for finance and minister of state of civil aviation. The BJP MP helped launch the UDAN regional connectivity scheme which expanded the number of operational airports in India by 50 percent in three years. Sinha also implemented several digital initiatives including the ‘DigitalSky Drone policy’ and the ‘DigiYatra’ digital traveler program.

Sinha's announcement comes hours after BJP MP Gautam Gambhir requested Nadda to relieve him of political duties in order for him to focus on cricket commitments.

“I have requested Hon’ble Party President JP Nadda ji to relieve me of my political duties so that I can focus on my upcoming cricket commitments. I sincerely thank Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi ji and Hon’ble HM Amit Shah ji for giving me the opportunity to serve the people. Jai Hind!,” Gambhir said in a post on X on Saturday morning.

BJP likely to release 1st list of Lok Sabha candidates soon

The BJP is likely to release its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls over the weekend after the marathon meeting of the party's central election committee (CEC) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended in the early hours of Friday. Reportedly, the first list of candidates is likely to feature some high-profile names seeking another term, including PM Modi.

According to party sources, the late-night CEC meeting discussed 50 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, around half of which the BJP is likely to announce its candidates on. BJP's ally Apna Dal (Sone Lal Patel) is expected to get two seats, Jayant Chaudhary's Rashtriya Lok Dal is likely to get two seats in Western Uttar Pradesh, Om Prakash Rajbhar's SPBSP one seat, and Sanjay Nishad's party may get one seat.