Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi, the BJP announced on Saturday. The party announced its first list of 195 candidates for the polls, which includes 34 ministers.

This is the third time PM Modi will be contesting from the Varanasi seat. 

BJP announced candidates on 51 seats from Uttar Pradesh, 20 from West Bengal, 24 from Madhya Pradesh, 15 each from Gujarat and Rajasthan, 12 from Kerala, 9 seats from Telangana, 11 from Assam, 11 each from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, 5 from Delhi, 2 from J&K, 3 from Uttarakhand, 2 from Arunachal Pradesh and 1 each from Goa, Tripura, Andaman & Nicobar and Daman & Diu.

"The list includes details regarding 34 Central Ministers and MoSs. It also included the name of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and two former CMs as well. 28 of these candidates are women. 47 candidates are under the age of 50. The list also has 27 SC candidates and 18 ST candidates. We are fielding 57 OBC candidates out of these 195," said Vinod Tawade. 

BJP repeated Kiren Rijiju, Tapir Gao from two Arunachal Pradesh seats for Lok Sabha polls. Sushma Swaraj's daughter Bansuri Swaraj to contest from New Delhi constituency. Amit Shah to contest from Gujarat's Gandhinagar again.