Has BJP fielded its next foreign minister in Sandhu from Amritsar ?? :::::: Former BJD leader Mahatab makes it to BJP list in Cuttack, Preneet Kaur is BJP nominee from Patiala in Punjab

In BJP's new list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and veteran lawmaker from Cuttack, B Mahatab's name figures. He will try his luck from the same seat in Odisha.

In the 8th list released on Saturday, the saffron party has named six of Punjab's 13 Lok Sabha candidates including Mrs Preneet Kaur -- who has been fielded from the prestigious Patiala Lok Sabha constituency. 

The BJP has named senior diplomat and former Indian ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, from another key constituency of Amritsar.

He may give a strong competition to incumbent External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. 

Moreover, three-term MP Ravneet Singh Bittu from Ludhiana and ex-AAP MP Sushil Kumar Rinku have been fielded from Jalandhar reserved seat.  Bittu joined the BJP from Congress a few days back ad so did Rinku who had won Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-poll in 2023 on AAP ticket.

From Faridkot reserved segment, the BJP sprung a surprise by fielding Hans Raj Hans, who is the sitting North West Delhi MP in the outgoing 17th Lok Sabha. Has has not been fielded in Delhi.  

Former Sujanpur MLA Dinesh Babbu has been fielded from Gurdaspur, where the party has dropped sitting MP and actor Sunny Deol. Late actor Vinod Khanna represented Gurdaspur since 1998. But after his death in 2017, the Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar had won the seat.  In 2019, the BJP fielded another film star Sunny Deol and who made it rather comfortably. 

In 2009, the Gurdaspur seat went to Congress nominee Partap Singh Bajwa. The Lotus party at present has two MPs in the 17th Lok Sabha -- Som Prakash from  Hoshiarpur and Sunny Deol representing Gurdaspur.  Preneet Kaur is the sitting MP from Patiala and switched over to the BJP from the Congress recently.

'Pawar' battle in Baramati: Ajit Pawar's wife vs Supriya Sule in polls

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has fielded Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra, against his estranged cousin Supriya Sule from Baramati seat in Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

NCP candidate Sunetra Pawar said, "Today is a huge day for me. I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union HM Amit Shah, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar for showing faith on me".