Lok Sabha polls: BJP fields Abhijit Das against Abhishek Banerjee in Diamond Harbour; releases 12th list

New Delhi [India], April 16 (ANI): The BJP released its 12th list of seven candidates for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday. The list comprises BJP candidates for seven Lok Sabha constituencies across Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
The party has fielded Abhijit Das (Bobby) against Trinamool Congress general secretary and Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee in the Diamond Harbour constituency, a seat considered a stronghold for the ruling West Bengal Party.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Abhishek Banerjee defeated the BJP's Nilanjan Roy with a victory margin of 3,20,594 votes.
The BJP has also given a ticket to Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhonsle from Maharashtra's Satara.
In Punjab, the party has fielded Manjeet Singh Miawind from Khadoor Sahib, Anita Som Parkash from Hoshiarpur, and Parampal Kaur Sidhu from Bathinda.
In Uttar Pradesh, Vishwadeep Singh will contest from Firozabad while Shashank Mani Tripathi will contest on a BJP ticket from the Deoria seat.
In addition to this, the BJP also announced names for the Assembly by-elections in Uttar Pradesh and Telangana.
In Uttar Pradesh, the party has fielded Arvind Singh from Dadraul, OP Shrivastava from Lucknow East, Shailendra Singh Sahu from Gainsari, and Shravan Gond from Duddhi.
On the other hand, TN Vamsha Tilak will contest from Secunderabad Cantt in Telangana.
Polling in the 42 parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal will be held on April 19, April 26, May 4, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC won 34 seats in the state, while the BJP had to settle for just 2 seats. The CPI (M) won 2 seats, while the Congress bagged 4. However, the BJP came up with a much-improved showing in the 2019 polls, winning 18 seats against the TMC's 22. The Congress's tally dropped to just 2 seats, while the Left scored a blank.
The upcoming general election in Maharashtra is set to unfold across five distinct phases from April 19 to May 20. In Punjab, the elections will be held in a single phase on June 1 for 13 seats.
The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4.(ANI)