NEW DELHI: BJP on Saturday dropped nine more of its sitting MPs, disregarding resistance from influential satraps and dramatic protests of the discards. In an interesting choice, the party named Diya Kumari , scion of the former Jaipur royal family, for the Rajsamand seat in the Lok Sabha. In doing so, it has ignored strained equations the former Jaipur royals share with ex-CM Vasundhara Raje. This is the second instance of the brass taking calls which Raje may not be comfortable with. Early on, it reached out to saffron rebel Hanuman Beniwal , who had quit the party in protest against Raje’s unquestioned dominance. BJP is backing Beniwal’s candidature for the Nagore seat as an independent.Diya’s choice for Mewar seat raised eyebrows because Rajputs of the area have not been fond of her family since the days of their challenge to Mughal emperor Akbar. The then rulers of Jaipur chose to side with the Mughals, a call seen by Mewar Rajputs as treason. The surprise choice whetted the speculation about the party opting for a hardline Hindutva figure for the Bhopal seat to engage Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh in what could turn out to be mouth-watering clash of ideologies.Singh was at the forefront of the campaign against “Hindutva terror”, raised doubts about the identity of those who attacked Mumbai on 26/11 while passionately insisting that the Indian Mujahideen terrorists killed in a gunbattle with Delhi Police at Batla House were killed in a “fake encounter”. While Diya’s entry was facilitated by sitting member Hariom Singh Rathore’s decision to opt out because of health reasons, Banda MP Bhairon Prasad Mishra has been replaced with R K Patel despite astubborn resistance from the incumbent. The change had become necessary after Shyama Prasad Gupta entered the fray on an SP ticket, disrupting caste equations.Mishra responded to the leadership’s firmness by resorting to dharna, but to no avail. Gupta switched to SP amid indications that BJP was set to drop him. Union minister Uma Bharati, who has decided not to defend her Jhansi seat because of health issues, has been replaced by Anurag Sharma of the Baidyanath Group, a well-known name for ayurveda medicines. Sharma’s father Vishwanath Sharma has been a BJP leader. Party veteran Ram Tahal Chaudhary has to make way for Sanjay Seth for the Ranchi seat.Chaudhary, a known Kurmi leader of the state who turned 77 this year, was keen on contesting the seat he comfortably won in 2014. Former Jharkhand minister and sitting MP from Koderma, Ravindra Roy, has been dropped with the party bringing in Annapurna Devi, a recent induction from RJD. Sitting Gwalior MP and Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who has been shifted to neighbouring Morena, has been replaced by Vivek Sejwalkar. For the Barmer seat in Rajasthan, the party has chosen Kailash Chaudhary at the expense of sitting member Colonel Sonaram Chaudhary (retd). The retired army official had lost the recent assembly polls, a possible reason why he had to face the axe.In 2014, the party had defied protests from its veteran leader Jaswant Singh to field Sonaram, leading the former to contest as an Independent. The saffron party is yet to announce candidates from several key constituencies including Gorakhpur, Deoria, Bhadohi, Jaunpur, Ghosi and Bhopal. Diya Kumari had won the assembly polls on the BJP symbol in 2013 from Sawai Madhopur but did not contest the recent state polls.