LS polls: BJP replaces Union minister Som Parkash with his wife in Hoshiarpur

The BJP on Tuesday named seven more candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji, from Satara in Maharashtra.

The ruling party dropped Union minister Som Parkash from Hoshiarpur in Punjab but decided to field his wife Anita Som Parkash to keep the influential local leader's support intact.

It has fielded former IAS officer Parampal Kaur Sidhu, who comes from an influential political family long associated with the Akali Dal, from Bathinda.

In Uttar Pradesh, the party has fielded Vishwadeep Singh from Firozabad and Shashank Mani Tripathi from Deoria, dropping its sitting MPs from the two seats.

It has named Abhijit Das from Diamond Harbour in West Bengal.

With the new list, the party has named its candidates for around 430 seats for the polls to 543 seats starting from April 19.

The party also released its second list of 21 candidates for the Odisha assembly polls, fielding former minister Dilip Ray from Rourkela.

So far, the BJP has named 133 candidates for the sate polls.