The present focus is on the ongoing meeting of the Central Election Committee (CEC) for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) taking place at the party’s central offices in the national capital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is at the helm of the proceedings, with the expectation that he will finalize the preliminary list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In attendance at the meeting are Party President JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, representatives, and Chief Ministers from 16 states.
On Thursday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived for the BJP CEC meeting, receiving a warm welcome from BJP chief JP Nadda. Notable attendees included Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and KP Maurya also made their way to the BJP headquarters in Delhi for the meeting.
The representatives and chief ministers from the 16 states present at the CEC meeting are from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Goa, Daman and Diu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Assam, Chandigarh, and Telangana. The party is expected to unveil a list of over 100 names in the coming days, with the initial list likely featuring prominent leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.
Initial focus may be on states where the BJP is contesting independently, and the list may include some constituencies lost by the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. For instance, in Uttar Pradesh, discussions have revolved around candidates for 14 Lok Sabha seats lost in 2019, and the first list might encompass around 40 names from the electorally crucial state.
Madhya Pradesh’s recommendations to the central leadership include the names of notable figures like former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, and senior party functionaries Kailash Vijayvargiya and Narottam Mishra. Rajasthan’s first list may comprise 15 names, including some prominent leaders, and Odisha’s list is expected to feature names of senior leaders and party functionaries.
In preparation for the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP leadership held a core group meeting on Wednesday, engaging in discussions with leaders from different states regarding the panel of names recommended by the respective state units.