Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Amid speculation that the BJP may release the names of party candidates for assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Monday, the party’s apex decision-making body, the Central Election Committee (CEC) brainstormed over the final selection of candidates on Sunday.
The CEC, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance at the party headquarters, went through the details of candidates, including their profiles and winnability factors.
According to sources, the CEC, which comprises Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda among others, discussed the names of probable candidates and held wider deliberations on the electoral strategy for the three states.
The crucial meeting of CEC lasted more than 45 minutes, during which Modi also dwelt upon the strategy to be adopted for winning elections in the three states, sources said. The PM emphasised the need for fielding candidates who have deep people connections.
The list of candidates for the remaining seats of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh was also placed before the PM for approval. “The list for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh has been finalised for the upcoming assembly elections after wider deliberations on the contestants. The party may also release the first list of candidates for Telangana. It might have been discussed by the CEC,” said a BJP leader.
It is learnt that the party may drop some sitting MLAs in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh again and field some Union ministers and MPs with deep electoral experiences in their respective states.The focus of the meeting was primarily on the preparedness for Rajasthan polls since senior party leaders from the state, including former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, attended it.
The BJP has so far named 79 candidates for the polls to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly and 21 for elections to the 90-member House in Chhattisgarh. Prior to the CEC meeting, top BJP leaders also had a meeting at party chief Nadda’s residence to discuss preparations for the assembly polls.
At the meeting, according to sources, the BJP’s core group leaders shared their strategies and opinions on the names of probable candidates. This meeting was also attended by Union minister Pralhad Joshi, who is also BJP’s election in-charge for Rajasthan; co-in-charge Kuldeep Bishnoi; former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and party state unit chief C P Joshi.
Union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and BJP national general secretary and in-charge for Rajasthan Arun Singh were also present at the meeting. Union minister and party’s Chhattisgarh election in-charge Mansukh Mandaviya, state unit president Arun Sao, state organisation secretary Nitin Naveen and leader of opposition in state assembly Narayan Chandel also attended the meeting at Nadda’s residence. The list for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh seats on which candidates have not been announced so far, are likely to be out tomorrow or Tuesday.
NEW DELHI: Amid speculation that the BJP may release the names of party candidates for assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Monday, the party’s apex decision-making body, the Central Election Committee (CEC) brainstormed over the final selection of candidates on Sunday.
The CEC, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance at the party headquarters, went through the details of candidates, including their profiles and winnability factors.
According to sources, the CEC, which comprises Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda among others, discussed the names of probable candidates and held wider deliberations on the electoral strategy for the three states.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
The crucial meeting of CEC lasted more than 45 minutes, during which Modi also dwelt upon the strategy to be adopted for winning elections in the three states, sources said. The PM emphasised the need for fielding candidates who have deep people connections.
The list of candidates for the remaining seats of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh was also placed before the PM for approval. “The list for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh has been finalised for the upcoming assembly elections after wider deliberations on the contestants. The party may also release the first list of candidates for Telangana. It might have been discussed by the CEC,” said a BJP leader.
It is learnt that the party may drop some sitting MLAs in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh again and field some Union ministers and MPs with deep electoral experiences in their respective states.
The focus of the meeting was primarily on the preparedness for Rajasthan polls since senior party leaders from the state, including former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, attended it.
The BJP has so far named 79 candidates for the polls to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly and 21 for elections to the 90-member House in Chhattisgarh. Prior to the CEC meeting, top BJP leaders also had a meeting at party chief Nadda’s residence to discuss preparations for the assembly polls.
At the meeting, according to sources, the BJP’s core group leaders shared their strategies and opinions on the names of probable candidates. This meeting was also attended by Union minister Pralhad Joshi, who is also BJP’s election in-charge for Rajasthan; co-in-charge Kuldeep Bishnoi; former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and party state unit chief C P Joshi.
Union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and BJP national general secretary and in-charge for Rajasthan Arun Singh were also present at the meeting. Union minister and party’s Chhattisgarh election in-charge Mansukh Mandaviya, state unit president Arun Sao, state organisation secretary Nitin Naveen and leader of opposition in state assembly Narayan Chandel also attended the meeting at Nadda’s residence. The list for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh seats on which candidates have not been announced so far, are likely to be out tomorrow or Tuesday.
