Narendra Modi to contest from Varanasi, Rajnath Singh from Lucknow

NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi will contest the Lok Sabha election from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, BJP announced tonight, putting to rest all speculation and hoping to boost the party's prospects in the electorally crucial state.

Modi, BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, will replace sitting MP and senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who had been resisting the move. Joshi has been shifted to Kanpur.

Party President Rajnath Singh also got his way as he will contest from Lucknow in place of incumbent party MP Lalji Tandon, who too had earlier ruled out changing his constituency for Rajnath Singh.

Singh had won the last election from Ghaziabad. Senior party leader Arun Jaitley has been fielded from Amritsar constituency in Punjab, BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar said at a press conference while releasing the list of 55 candidates finalised for 12 states.

Jaitley will replace Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was called by the party leadership during the day and offered an option of contesting from three other seats which he refused.