LS polls: Modi to fight again from Varanasi

New Delhi: The ruling BJP on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani in the first list of 195 candidates.

The list also included two former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) and Biplab Deb (Tripura) -- as well as Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who will fight again from Kota in Rajasthan.

Chouhan has been fielded from Vidisha and Deb from Tripura West.

Union ministers fielded by the BJP through the first list also included Mansukh Mandaviya, Jitendra Singh, Sarbananda Sonowal, Gajendra Shekhawat, Bhupender Yadav, G Kishan Reddy, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Arjun Munda.

Announcing the list, BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde said the party is confident that it would form the government for the third term under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a much bigger mandate.

He also said that the party has been working on further expanding its footprint across various states and also to strengthen the National Democratic Alliance.

The list included 28 women and 47 young leaders, he said. (PTI)