Haryana polls: BJP drops six MLAs including two ministers & state party chief (Lead)

Chandigarh, Sep 10 (IANS) With its second list for the 90-member Assembly in Haryana, the BJP on Monday dropped six legislators, comprising two ministers, and the state party chief. The list also comprises two Muslim candidates.

In Tuesday’s list, the party denied nomination to six legislators, comprising two ministers — Education Minister Seema Trikha and Public Health Minister Banwari Lal — besides state president Mohan Lal Badoli, who had announced to opt out of the contest.The BJP is yet to announce candidates for three seats — Faridabad-NIT, Sirsa and Mahendergarh.The four legislators who denied re-nomination were Hodal (SC) legislator Jagdish Nayar, Hathin’s Praveen Dagar, Pataudi’s (SC) Satya Prakash and Ganaur’s Nirmal Rani, while the dropped ministers were Banwari Lal from Bawal (SC reserved) and Seema Trikha from Badhkal.State president Badoli, the legislator from Rai, has been replaced by Krishna Gehlawat.In the second list of 21 candidates, the BJP has pitted Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Vice-President Captain Yogesh Bairagi, who is the co-convener of BJP’s state sports cell, against Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who recently joined the Congress.The party has fielded Pawan Saini from Naraingarh, the seat represented by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini from 2014-2019 in his maiden entry into state