BJP dumps Udit Raj, names Hans Raj

The BJP on Tuesday named singer Hans Raj Hans as its candidate for the North West Delhi Lok Sabha seat, dropping the sitting and sulking MP Udit Raj.

Hans Raj will contest against Congress' Rajesh Lilothia and AAP's Gugan Singh.

Hans Raj tweeted: "I will be honest and do my best to honour my services to the people of the nation under the guidance of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah."

The BJP on Sunday re-nominated four of its seven MPs from Delhi and on Monday named candidates in two other seats.

Udit Raj, a former Indian Revenue Service officer, resigned from his post and formed the Indian Justice Party in 2003.

In 2014, he announced a merger with the Bharatiya Janata Party. He contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election on BJP ticket and won.

He had earlier threatened to quit the party if he was denied a ticket and said he would seek re-election as an independent candidate.

"I am waiting for ticket. If not given to me, I will bid goodbye to the party," he said earlier on Tuesday.

On Sunday, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan was renominated from Chandni Chowk and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi.

Parvesh Verma, son of former Chief Minister of Delhi Sahib Singh Verma, has got a ticket from West Delhi while Ramesh Bidhuri has been chosen for South Delhi.

On Monday, the BJP re-nominated MP Meenakshi Lekhi from New Delhi.

The party dropped sitting MP Maheish Girri and fielding cricketer Gautam Gambhir from the East Delhi Lok Sabha seat.

--IANS

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