New Delhi, Mar 21 : Acceding to a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) demand, BJP today dropped its declared candidate from Haridwar constituency and announced a Hindu monk as its official candidate.

"The party has made a small change in its list of candidates for Uttarakhand. Swami Yatindranand Giri would be our candidate instead of Madan Kausik,"the party&aposs office secretary Shyam Jaju told PTI.

Kausik is a minister in the Uttarakhand government of BJP.

According to sources, VHP leaders, including Ashok Singhal, had recently led a delegation to party leader L K Advani, demanding that the Haridwar seat be left for"sadhus and saints".