BJP replaces candidate from Asansol, drops Kirron Kher from Chandigarh

The BJP on Wednesday released the tenth list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, dropping Kirron Kher from Chandigarh and replacing the party contender from Asansol.

Former Union minister SS Ahluwalia will now contest from West Bengal's Asansol instead of Bhojpuri singer-actor Pawan Singh. Singh refused to contest polls soon after BJP nominated him from the seat.

Ahluwalia will take on TMC heavyweight candidate and the party's star face, Shatrughan Sinha, in Asansol, an industrial hub encapsulating the state's coal belt.

The BJP also announced Sanjay Tandon as the party candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat of Chandigarh, replacing incumbent MP Kirron Kher, who had represented the constituency since 2014.

Tandon, party's co-in charge for Himachal Pradesh, thanked his party leadership for giving him the ticket from Chandigarh, which will go to polls in the last phase of general elections on June 1.

Reacting to the party fielding him from here, Tandon (59), who has also served as the Chandigarh BJP president for nearly a decade in the past, said, "It is a moment of great happiness for me. The party has given me an opportunity by nominating me as a candidate for the Lok Sabha polls from Chandigarh." "I thank my party's leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah," he told reporters outside his residence where the party supporters and other people had gathered to congratulate him.

Tandon, son former Chhattisgarh governor late Balramji Das Tandon, assured everyone that he will live up to the expectations and the trust which the BJP has reposed in him.

"I have been connected with people of Chandigarh for the last 40 years in one way or the other and I assure them I will not leave any stone unturned to serve them like a family member," he said.

The BJP, in its 10th list, announced the candidates for a total of nine Lok Sabha seats -- seven in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Chandigarh and West Bengal.

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