BJP's Poll Panel Meets On TS, Rajasthan Lists

NEW DELHI: The central election committee (CEC) of the BJP met on Wednesday to finalise candidates for the remaining seats in the Rajasthan and Telangana Assembly polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the meeting headed by party president J.P. Nadda.

Besides Mr Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, along with other members of the CEC, attended the meeting.

The party has not yet named its candidates for 76 seats for the November 25 elections to the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly. For the November 30 elections to the 119-member Telangana Assembly, the BJP has so far declared candidates for 53 seats.

Both Mr Nadda and Mr Shah have held extensive meetings with party leaders from the states to finalise the list of probables before the CEC picks the final choices. The BJP has been making vigorous efforts to return to power in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and regain its momentum in BRS-ruled Telangana, where the Congress is eying a comeback. In that effort, the BJP has fielded seven MPs in Rajasthan and three in the Telangana polls.

Besides Rajasthan and Telangana, three states --Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram -- will go to the polls between November 7 and November 30 in what is being billed as a semi-final by many observers before the all-important Lok Sabha elections in 2024.