The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) replaced 33 sitting MPs with new faces as it released its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Among them was South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri, who has been replaced by Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, leader of opposition in the Delhi Assembly.
Reacting to the snub, Ramesh Bidhuri said he would welcome guests as a member of the BJP family.
“Sometimes a clean sheet has to be laid out for a guest. We are members of the family, have to maintain the dignity and reputation of the house. There is a responsibility to take the ideology of the family forward. We have to work for that," Ramesh Bidhuri told reporters.
Ramesh Bidhuri got caught in controversy after making objectionable remarks against BSP MP Danish Ali in Lok Sabha last year. Bidhuri later apologised for the communal slurs.
The BJP named five candidates for Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, four of them replacements for sitting MPs.
The party named Praveen Khandelwal as its candidate from Chandani Chowk Lok Sabha Sabha seat, dropping two-term MP and former Union minister Harsh Vardhan.
For the West Delhi seat, BJP replaced two-term MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma with Kamaljeet Sehrawat.
It named Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, as its candidate from New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, currently held by Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi.
(With inputs from PTI)
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