"I have to do much bigger work now": Hema Malini after BJP names her as LS candidate from Mathura

"I wanted to do a lot of things here. I have done many things in the first five years and even better during my second term. This is the third time and I have to do much bigger work now so that Mathura's level can rise more. I would like to thank PM Modi, National President JP Nadda, HM Amit Shah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath for putting faith in me," she said.

Hema Malini defeated Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary from the Mathura seat in the 2014 general elections. She won again from this seat in the 2019 elections.

This is the third time that the BJP has given a ticket to Hema Malini. She has been contesting elections from the Mathura seat since 2014.

Meanwhile, expressing his confidence in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Uttar Pradesh Minister and founder of Nishad Party, Sanjay Nishad, has said that BJP is like a big brother and everyone will work together for the alliance.

"BJP is like a big brother; we are not different from them. We work together for NDA. NDA's first list is our list. We will all work together," he said.

BJP on Saturday announced its first list of 195 candidates, which included PM Modi from Varanasi again.

This is the third time PM Modi will be contesting from the Varanasi seat. In 2014, he defeated AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, and in 2019, won against Samajwadi Party's Shalini Yadav.

Ravi Kishan, a well-known Bhojpuri actor, will run for office again from Gorakhpur, the stronghold of Yogi Adityanath. The current Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath held the seat till 2017.

Of the 195 candidates, 34 are Ministers from the Centre and States, and two are former Chief Ministers.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led National Democratic (NDA) won a total of 303 seats, leaving the grand-old party behind at 52 seats.

The Lok Sabha polls are slated to be held in April-May this year. (ANI)