BJP releases Ist list of candidates for UP elections

New Delhi/Lucknow: The BJP on Saturday fielded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban seat for the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, a decision that put to rest speculation he may contest from Ayodhya, as the five-time Lok Sabha MP enters the state poll fray for the first time from his home turf.

Releasing its first list of 107 candidates in which it aims to counter rivals’ OBC pitch after the Samajwadi Party(SP) accused it of being anti-backward castes, the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) also chose Keshav Prasad Maurya, one of the two deputy chief ministers, from his birthplace Sirathu in Kaushambi district.