The BJP's seventh list for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections includes Navneet Rana as its candidate for the Amravati constituency in Maharashtra.

by Omkar Mudage / 28-03-2024 / comments

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently announced its seventh list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Navneet Rana has been nominated for the Amravati constituency in Maharashtra, while Govind Karjol will contest for the Chitradurga seat in Karnataka.

Navneet Rana is the current Member of Parliament from Amravati, having won as an Independent candidate in 2019 by defeating Shiv Sena's Anandrao Adsul. However, in April 2022, Mumbai Police filed another FIR against Rana and her husband for allegedly inciting discord between different groups due to their threats to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's residence.

In Maharashtra, the BJP is forming an alliance with Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Similarly, in Karnataka, the BJP has joined hands with the Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S)]. Under this arrangement, JD(S) will contest in three seats—Mandya, Hassan, and Kolar.

The history of alliances in Karnataka includes JD(S) forming a coalition government with the Congress for 14 months starting from May 2018, with H D Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister. However, during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, both parties secured only one seat each, while the BJP won 25 seats and even supported an independent candidate in Mandya.

Political analysts stress the importance of effective ground-level coordination and vote transfer between parties for the BJP-JD(S) alliance to succeed, a factor that was lacking in the JD(S)-Congress alliance. JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy mentioned plans for joint coordination committees and workers' meetings between the BJP and JD(S) in various constituencies to ensure better collaboration and understanding among their supporters.