The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership on February 28 held a core group meeting of different States as part of the candidate selection process for the Lok Sabha polls, with party chief JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah discussing with leaders the panel of names recommended by the respective State units.
Sources said a core committee meeting was held for several States, including Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Assam, besides the union territory of Delhi, ahead of the meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee on February 29.
They said the party is expected to announce over 100 names over the next few days. Sources said the first list is likely to have the names of top party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.
The party may also initially focus on States where it is contesting on its own. The first list may also have some seats the BJP lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has discussed candidates for 14 Lok Sabha seats the party lost in 2019, and the first list could include around 40 names from the electorally crucial State, sources said. The first list may have all names in western Uttar Pradesh and some seats in the Awadh and Purvanchal regions of the state.
Sources said that in Madhya Pradesh, names of prominent leaders, including former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and senior party functionaries Kailash Vijayvargiya and Narottam Mishra, are among the recommendations received by the central leadership from the State unit.
Sources said that the first list for Rajasthan may have 15 names, including some prominent leaders. The list from Odisha is also expected to have names of some senior leaders and party functionaries.
(with inputs from ANI)
