To finalize the initial list of candidates for the Lok Sabha, the BJP’s Central Election Committee convenes
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other members of the BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) convened here on Thursday night to discuss finalizing the first slate of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, which are scheduled for April or May.
Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, as well as the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), J P Nadda, were present at the meeting. The ruling party is trying to select its candidates for a sizable portion of the 543 Lok Sabha seats before the Election Commission (EC) releases the election schedule.
Among those who arrived at the BJP headquarters for the meeting were leaders from several states, including Goa’s Pramod Sawant, Gujarat’s Bhupendra Patel, Madhya Pradesh’s Mohan Yadav, Uttarakhand’s Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chhattisgarh’s Vishnu Deo Sai, and Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath.
When candidates for seats lying inside their respective states are debated, state leaders attend the CEC meeting.
According to insiders, the first lists of candidates may include a significant number of the seats that the BJP has targeted to improve its chances after losing such contests in 2019, based on the format of the most recent Assembly votes.
Following the decision by the party not to grant them another term in the Rajya Sabha at the most recent biennial elections to the Upper House of Parliament, a number of Union ministers, including Bhupender Yadav, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Mansukh Mandaviya, are expected to run in the general election.
All eyes will be on the BJP to see whether it chooses to nominate some well-known individuals or tries something new. The party’s election candidate lists have often been as important for those who are left out as for the new faces who are given a chance.
Before the CEC makes a final decision, the party’s brain trust—which includes Shah and Nadda—has met with state leaders on a number of occasions to compile lists of possible candidates.
