Bhopal, Aug 17 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday announced 39 candidates for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, with the party fielding two new candidates for two out of seven seats in Bhopal currently represented by Muslim legislators.

The party has named two Hindu candidates in the two seats -- Bhopal North and Bhopal Central. While the BJP has fielded former Bhopal Mayor Alok Sharma from Bhopal North, currently represented by Congress MLA Arif Aqil, it has nominated Dhruvnarayan Singh from Bhopal Central, which is represented by Congress legislator Arif Masood.

There are a total of seven assembly seats in Bhopal. Of them, BJP won four while Congress bagged three in 2018.

The seven sitting MLAs from Bhopal are -- Vishnu Khatri (Bairasia), Arif Aqeel (Bhopal North), Vishwas Sarang (Narela), P.C. Sharma (Bhopal South), Arif Masood (Bhopal Central), Krishna Gaur (Govindpura) and Rameshwar Sharma (Huzur).

Meanwhile, the Congress is also likely to field its sitting MLA Arif Masood from his seat this time as well, while Arif Aqeel, a senior Congress leader, who has been on bed rest for the last few months due to multiple health issues, would be seeking a ticket for his son.