The BJP on March 3 announced the names of Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and the party's Arunachal Pradesh president Tapir Gao as its candidates from the two seats of the northeastern State.
Mr. Rijiju, the Earth Sciences Minister in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, will seek re-election from the Arunachal Pradesh West seat which he has held since 2004, except for one term. He lost to Congress' Takam Sanjay in 2009.
A law graduate from the University of Delhi, Mr. Rijiju's tenure as the Law Minister was marked by controversies.
In 2022, Mr. Rijiju called the collegium system of appointment of judges as "opaque". He also advocated the government's role in the appointment of judges, writing to the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud.
In March 2023, Mr. Rijiju accused some retired judges of being a part of an "Anti-India gang". On May 18 last year, he was assigned the portfolio of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Tapir Gao, the State BJP chief, was selected for the East Lok Sabha constituency.
He won the seat in 2004 but lost in 2009 and 2014, before being elected for the second time in the Lok Sabha in 2019.
