New Delhi, Mar 2 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In a media briefing, BJP leader Vinod Tawde announced the names of 195 candidates contesting the 2024 Parliamentary elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most high-profile name featuring in the first list of the BJP for Parliamentary elections.

PM Modi will seek re-election to Lok Sabha from the Varanasi constituency in Uttar Pradesh. He has been contesting from there since 2014.

In the list, of the 195 nominees, two former chief ministers and Lok Sabha Speaker have been included.

A total of 34 Union Ministers and Ministers of States will be fielded again in the Lok Sabha polls.

The party finalised the names of candidates during BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting chaired by PM Modi.

Out of 195 nominees, the BJP's pick for seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi took everyone by surprise.

Manoj Tiwari is the only BJP MP from Delhi to get a party ticket to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Barring him, all other existing Parliamentarians including Meenakshi Lekhi, Ramesh Bidhuri, Parvesh Singh Verma and others have failed to get party tickets.