22 former Chief Ministers are contesting the Lok Sabha elections, BJP has given tickets to 11 and Congress has given tickets to 5, see the complete list

The campaign for the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections is in full swing. Hundreds of leaders of the country are trying their political luck for the 18th Lok Sabha. Among these, there are 22 former Chief Ministers including PM Modi. Many former chief ministers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Digvijay Singh, Omar Abdullah, Ghulam Nabi Azad, HD Kumaraswamy, Charanjit Singh Channi, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Bhupesh Baghel, Manohar Lal Khattar and Biplab Kumar, are in the fray. Let us know which leader is contesting from where.

List of former Chief Ministers who contested Lok Sabha elections

1. Narendra Modi (BJP): Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014. He is currently contesting elections from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat of UP for the third consecutive time.
2. Rajnath Singh (BJP): Rajnath Singh was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2000 to 2002. He is contesting from Lucknow, UP for the third consecutive time.
3. Shivraj Singh Chouhan (BJP): Shivraj Singh Chouhan was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh from 2005 to 2018 and again from 2020 to 2023. He is contesting from Vidisha parliamentary seat in Madhya Pradesh.
4. Manohar Lal Khattar (BJP): Khattar was the Chief Minister of Haryana from 2014 to 2024. He is contesting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time from Karnal parliamentary constituency of Haryana.
5. Arjun Munda (BJP): Arjun Munda was the Chief Minister of Jharkhand from 2003 to 2006 and again from 2010 to 2013. He is contesting from Khunti seat in Jharkhand.
6. Jagadish Shettar (BJP): Shettar was the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 2012 to 2013. He is contesting from Belgaum seat in Karnataka.
7. Basavaraj Bommai (BJP): Bommai was the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 2021 to 2023. He is trying his luck in Haveri in Karnataka.
8. Trivendra Singh Rawat (BJP): Rawat was the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2017 to 2021. BJP has given him ticket from Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
9. HD Kumaraswamy (JDS): He was the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2018 to 2019. He is contesting from Mandya seat. There is an alliance of BJP-JDS in Karnataka.
10. Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy (BJP): Reddy was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 2010 to 2014. He is contesting from Rajampet in Andhra Pradesh.
11. Sarbananda Sonowal (BJP): Sonowal was the Chief Minister of Assam from 2016 to 2021. He is contesting Dibrugarh elections.
12. Biplab Kumar Deb (BJP): Deb was the Chief Minister of Tripura from 2018 to 2022. He is contesting from Tripura West seat on BJP ticket.
13. O Panneerselvam (BJP-backed Independent): OPS was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu between 2001 to 2002, 2014 to 2015 and again from 2016 to 2017. He is contesting from Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu.
14. Jitan Ram Manjhi (HAM-S): He was the Chief Minister of Bihar from 2014 to 2015. Manjhi is contesting from Gaya seat. Manjhi’s party has an alliance with BJP.
15. Digvijay Singh (Congress): Digvijay was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh from 1993 to 2003. Rajgarh party is making him contest elections.
16. Bhupesh Baghel (Congress): Baghel was the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh from 2018 to 2023. He is contesting Rajnandgaon elections on Congress ticket.
17. Omar Abdullah (JKNC): Omar was the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 2009 to 2015. He is contesting elections from Baramulla.
18. Mehbooba Mufti (JKPDP):Mehbooba was the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 2016 to 2018. She is contesting from Anantnag-Rajouri seat.
19. Charanjit Singh Channi (Congress): Channi was the Chief Minister of Punjab from 2021 to 2022. He is contesting from Jalandhar seat.
20. Ghulam Nabi Azad (DPAP): Azad was the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 2005 to 2008. He is in the election fray from Anantnag-Rajouri.
21. Nabam Tuki (Congress): Tuki was the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh twice from 2011 to 2016 and again for a short period in 2016. He is contesting from Arunachal West seat.
22. V Vaithilingam (Congress): He was the Chief Minister of Puducherry from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2008 to 2011. He is contesting from Puducherry Lok Sabha seat.

Let us tell you that the elections for the 18th Lok Sabha will be held in seven phases on 19 April, 26 April, 7 May, 13 May, 20 May, 25 May and 1 June. The result of the election will be declared on June 4. To form the government at the Centre, a party or alliance must win 272 seats. In the last elections in 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 303 seats, while the main opposition party Congress won 52 seats.