BJP likely to release first list of Lok Sabha candidates today

The BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) met in New Delhi on Thursday (February 29) night as its members, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, held deliberations to finalise the first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls expected to be held in April-May.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda and Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh were among those who attended the meeting as the ruling party looks to name its candidates for a sizeable number of the 543 Lok Sabha seats before the Election Commission (EC) announces the poll schedule.

Key attendees

Leaders from various states, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Gujarat's Bhupendra Patel, Madhya Pradesh's Mohan Yadav, Chhattisgarh's Vishnu Deo Sai, Uttarakhand's Pushkar Singh Dhami and Goa's Pramod Sawant, were among those who arrived at the BJP headquarters for the meeting.

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari also came for the meeting.

State leaders attend the CEC meeting when candidates for constituencies falling in their respective states are discussed.

Seats to be focussed on

A large number of those seats that the BJP has targeted for improving its prospects after unsuccessfully contesting those in 2019 may figure in the initial lists of candidates, following the template of recent Assembly polls, sources said.

Many Union ministers, including Bhupender Yadav, Dharmendra Pradhan and Mansukh Mandaviya, are likely to be fielded in the general election, after the party chose not to give them another Rajya Sabha term during the recent biennial polls to the Upper House of Parliament.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are also likely to contest in the Lok Sabha election this time. Currently, they are Rajya Sabha MPs from Karnataka and Gujarat, respectivley.

The BJP's poll candidate lists have often been as significant for those missing out as for the new faces given a chance and all eyes will be on whether it drops some well-known names or does some fresh experiment in selecting its nominees.

The party's brain trust, including Shah and Nadda, has held a series of meetings with its leaders from states to draw the lists of probables, before the CEC takes a final call.

With agency inputs