Shahjahanpur/Agra: Two prominent names, which did not figure in the BJP’s list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, were from western Uttar Pradesh-- Union minister Krishna Raj and former Central minister and chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairman Ram Shankar Katheria.BJP announced that 44-year-old Arun Sagar will be the face of BJP from Shahjahanpur seat, replacing Krishna Raj. While in Agra, BJP selected state cabinet minister SP Singh Baghel, dropping Katheria. Fatehpur Sikri MP Chaudhary Babulal has also been replaced with Raj Kumar Chahar. The BJP announced its first list of 184 candidates on Thursday, fielding Narendra Modi from Varanasi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow.Krishna Raj, who was in Shahjahanpur, told reporters that she respected the party’s decision and would help the BJP’s candidate in his poll campaign. However, she boarded a train to Delhi soon afterwards and didn’t respond to our repeated calls.Political observers believe that Krishna was denied the party ticket due to frequent conflicts between her and state minister Suresh Khanna. There were several incidents where both the BJP ministers had arguments during public meetings and rallies.Krishna Raj has been an MLA from Mohammadi assembly seat in Lakhimpur Kheri twice in the past – in 1996 and 2007. She contested in the 2014 Lok sabha elections from Shahjahanpur and won by a margin around 2.35 lakh votes.Amit Tyagi, a local advocate who keenly follows political trends, said, “There were celebrations in the rival camp, which supports Suresh Khanna, after Krishna raj was denied the party ticket. The absence of senior party leaders, including three BJP MLAs, out of the four, from recent party meeting had given an indication of conflicts in the party’s Shahjahanpur unit.”On the other hand, Arun Sagar, who once enjoyed state minister’s rank during the BSP government, had contested the 2012 assembly elections from Powayan constituency on a BSP ticket but had lost to the Samajwadi Party candidate Shakuntala Devi.

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