From PM Modi to Hema Malini, here are all the repeat candidates named in BJP first list

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released its first list of candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, which includes 195 nominees from 16 states and two union territories. The list includes 34 Union and state ministers.

Among the 195 candidates named in the first list are several prominent BJP leaders who have been fielded by the party more than once, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister has been fielded from Varanasi for the third time, while Home Minister Amit Shah will once again be contesting from Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

The party has also renominated Ravi Kishan from Gorakhpur, Ajay Mishra Teni from Lakhimpur Kheri, Mahesh Sharma from Gautam Buddhanagar, and SPS Baghel from Agra. Gujarat BJP chief CR Paatil will also be fighting from his seat in Navsari for the second time.

Shripad Naik, a union minister, will be the BJP contender from North Goa for the sixth time in a row. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will be fighting again from Kota, Rajasthan. Lallo Singh has been nominated from Faizabad (Ayodhya) for the third time, where he previously won in 2014 and 2019.

Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani will run from Amethi for the second time, where she defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2019. Actor-turned-politician Hema Malini will be contesting from Mathura, Uttar Pradesh for the third time.

The BJP also announced Mahesh Sharma, a BJP veteran's candidature in the Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency for the Lok Sabha elections. Sharma has been nominated as the party's Gautam Buddh Nagar candidate four times. He said on Saturday that he was fortunate to be able to serve Gautam Buddh Nagar as a public representative once more.

Union Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan will run from Kheda, a seat he won in 2014 and 2019.

Mansukhbhai Vasava will run for Lok Sabha elections from Gujarat's Bharuch; this is his seventh nomination.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the party has retained Union Minister Jitendra Singh and current Member of Parliament Jugal Kishore from the Udhampur and Jammu parliamentary seats, respectively.