BJP replaces Shatrughan Sinha with Ravi Shankar Prasad on Patna Sahib seat 

Shatrughan Sinha (L) and Ravi Shankar Prasad.

New Delhi: The Bhartiya Janta Party, on Saturday, announced the names of 40 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar, allying with JD(U) both the parties contesting 17 seats each.

The BJP is fielding Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from the Patna Sahib, replacing the actor-turned politician, Shatrughan Sinha.

After the seat announcement for Bihar, Prasad said: “Patna is my city, I was born there, studied there, became a lawyer. Even though I had been working on national level, I’ve an emotional connection with Patna. I’m grateful to the party, PM Modi, Amit Shah Ji and others.”

The minister took to Twitter to thank everyone for their congratulatory messages:

Deeply grateful to our PM @narendramodi Ji, @BJP4India President @AmitShah Ji, central & state leadership of BJP for giving me an opportunity to contest Lok Sabha election from Patna Sahib. I wish to assure the people of Patna that I will live up to their expectations. @BJP4Bihar pic.twitter.com/IwGGdOLhRz

— Chowkidar Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) March 23, 2019

Shatrughan Sinha, known for his sharp criticism and has been in a war of words with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for some time now, did not figure on the BJP’s list of candidates in Bihar for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. He won on a BJP ticket in 2014 Lok Sabha election but subsequently had a fallout with the leadership after he was left out of the cabinet. Since then, he has been a vocal critic of the party’s policies and Modi’s leadership.

 Sinha, on multiple occasions, expressed his unhappiness with the BJP leadership and Modi. According to reports, he is likely to join the Congress and seek re-election on a ticket of the grand old party.

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