Out of 195 candidates, India's ruling party has named Abdul Salam, only Muslim,from Kerala's Muslim-stronghold seat of Malappuram.
Salam is a former Vice Chancellor of Calicut University. He was appointed to the post by Congress-led UDF in Kerala.
He later joined the BJP in 2019 and also contested unsuccessfully from Nemom assembly segment.
The BJP's list also has only Catholic - also from Kerala - Anil Antony - son of a Congress veteran A K Antony.
However, the saffron party has dropped John Barla from the state of West Bengal.Barla is also Junior Minister for Minority Affairs in Modi's council of Ministers.
Dropping Barla appears a surprise as he had polled more than 50 per cent votes in the 2019 polls.
The BJP's first list has a right mix of youth, women and sections that are socially deprived.
Out of 51 candidates named for Uttar Pradesh, the party will be repeating 43 sitting Members of Parliament.
There is also a right mix of Brahmin candidate and those who belong to influential traders and farming communities such as Jats.
There is also a good mix of celebrity candidates including popular actress Hema Malini from temple city of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and actor Suresh Gopi also in the southern state of Kerala.
Interestingly, in Uttar Pradesh, the party has reposed faith in Saket Mishra, son of Nripendra Mishra,for the Shravasti parliamentary seat. Senior Mishra has served in the Prime Minister's Office under Modi and is chairman of Ayodhya's Ram Temple Construction Committee.
Saket Mishra’s academic journey includes graduating in economics from St. Stephen’s College and pursuing an MBA from IIM Kolkata. Notably, he cleared the UPSC Civil Services exam and became an IPS officer in 1994. However, he later made a career shift, resigning from his post and working in the finance sector, at Germany’s Deutsche Bank.
Saket Mishra is a resident of Deoria with ancestral ties to Shravasti.
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