A similar list was earlier released by the BJP featuring 30 stalwarts highlighted by PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, party president J P Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Smriti Irani and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
BJP excluded mother-son Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi from their star campaigners list, despite being winning candidates in UP’s Sultanpur and Pilibhit for the party for many years. The mother-son duo was recently also excluded from the party’s national executive committee.
Uttar Pradesh, with its 403 constituencies, will go to polls in 7 phases starting from February 10 and ending on March 7, with counting of results scheduled for March 10.