Before the meeting, Shah and Nadda confer with state netas to choose poll candidates

NEW DELHI: On the eve of the party’s first central election committee meeting on Wednesday, anxiety among current BJP MPs and those vying for tickets increased. Amid rumors that a sizable number of incumbents would be benched, BJP president J P Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah engaged in lengthy discussions with representatives from more than 14 states and union territories.

Two-termers are seen to be especially susceptible, and the party wants to avoid the possibility that ‘local incumbency’ could thwart its efforts to take advantage of PM Modi’s popularity in order to achieve its largest-ever LS victory.
The number of state units that have requested discussions has confirmed the suggestion that the leadership may soon release its first list, continuing where it left off in the most recent state polls. There was a lot of chatter in the party circles about the possibility of up to 200 candidates on the list, which is expected to be revealed the day after the CEC meeting that would be attended by top state leaders, parliamentary board members, and Modi. ‘Informal’ meetings between BJP leaders and politicians from UP and other states emerged lately. In addition, those holding central office have finished reviewing the states from where the party anticipates a good selection.
Shivraj, Scindia, is expected to run for the BJP in the LS elections.
The evaluation process comprised comparing the strengths of possible replacements with the prospects of the previous round’s victors. It also included an on-the-spot assessment, comments from local units, and the results of polls the party had commissioned.
Shah, Nadda, and general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh convened brainstorming sessions with core group members from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Goa, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Uttarakhand, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu.
According to sources, former MP and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who attended the conference to assess potential candidates for his state, is one of the front-runners for a significant seat. Additionally, veteran party member Kailash Vijayvargiya and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia may be nominated.
According to sources, the national leadership has received a list of 25–30 candidates from the Delhi BJP election committee for the seven seats in the capital.
In addition to incumbent MP Meenakshi Lekhi, the names of foreign minister S Jaishankar, housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri, and late politician Sushma Swaraj’s daughter Bansuri were among the likely candidates for the New Delhi seat, a top Delhi BJP source said. “The list of probables was discussed in a meeting of national leaders, including Nadda, Shah and state president Virendra Sachdeva, at the party headquarters,” according to him.
The remaining five MPs are serving their constituencies for the second time in a row: Ramesh Bidhuri (South Delhi), Lekhi (New Delhi), Harsh Vardhan (Chandni Chowk), Manoj Tiwari (North East Delhi), and Parvesh Verma (West Delhi), with the exception of East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir and North West Delhi MP Han Raj Hans.