Lucknow, Mar 21 (IANS): The BJP on Thursday announced the list of 28 of its candidates for Uttar Pradesh's 80 Lok Sabha seats, dropping six of its sitting members including a Union Minister, for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The list was announced by senior BJP leader J.P. Nadda at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

Union Minister of State for Agriculture Krishna Raj, who represents Shahjahanpur, has been replaced by Arun Sagar from her seat, while Uttar Pradesh Minister S.P. Baghel will replace Ram Shankar Katheria from the Agra parliamentary constituency.

Parmeshwar Lal Saini will contest from Sambhal instead of Satya Pal Singh, Ashok Rawat from Misrikh instead of Anju Bala, Rajkumar Chahar in place of Babulal Chaudhary from Fatehpur and Jai Prakash Rawat in place of Anshul Verma from Hardoi seat.

The first list of the party also included the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, General V.K. Singh (retd) from Ghaziabad, and Union Minister Mahesh Sharma from Gautam Buddha Nagar.

The BJP had won 71 seats in 2014 elections, while its ally Apna Dal had won two seats in the state. The Samajwadi Party had won five seats and the Congress two.

The seven phased elections are scheduled from April 11 to May 19. The results will be announced on May 23.