Lok Sabha elections: BSP releases new list of 11 candidates in UP; fields Athar Jamal against PM Modi in Varanasi

Lucknow: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Tuesday released a new list of eleven candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The BSP has fielded Athar Jamal Lari against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest polls from the Varanasi parliamentary constituency.
According to the list, the Mainpuri Lok Sabha ticket has been changed and given to Shiv Prasad Yadav while Shrikala Singh, wife of gangster-turned-politician Dhananjay Singh, lodged in jail, has been fielded from the Jaunpur constituency.
The BSP has fielded Muslim Khan in Budaun while Chhotelal Gangwar will contest from Bareilly.
Udraj Verma will contest from Sultanpur seat and in Farrukhabad, the party candidate is Kranti Pandey.
Mayank Dwivedi will contest the Banda seat and Khwaja Shamsuddin will contest from Domariaganj.
In Ballia, the party has fielded Lallan Singh Yadav and Umesh Kumar Singh will contest from Ghazipur.
Notably, the BSP has opted not to form any alliances for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh. Instead, it is set to contest independently in the state.
Earlier, the BSP nominated Mazid Ali from Saharanpur, Shreepal Singh from Kairana, Dara Singh Prajapati from Muzaffarnagar, Vijendra Singh from Bijnor, Surendra Pal Singh from Nagina, Mohammad Irfan Saifi from Moradabad, Zeeshan Khan from Rampur, Shaukat Ali from Sambhal, Mujahid Hussain from Amroha, Devratt Tyagi from Meerut, Praveen Bansal from Baghpat, Rajendra Singh Solanki from Gautam Buddha Nagar, Girish Chandra Jatav from Bulandshahr, Abid Ali from Aonla, Aneesh Ahmed Khan alia Phool Babu from Pilibhit, and Dodram Verma from Shahjahanpur. Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, will vote in all seven phases.
Voting for phases one and two will be held on April 19 and April 26. Next, the state will once again poll in phases three and four on May 7 and May 13.
The votes will be counted on June 4.