In the heart of New Delhi, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) orchestrated its central election committee (CEC) gathering at the party’s central command on Thursday night, aiming to finalize the inaugural roster of contenders for the impending Lok Sabha elections, anticipated to unfold in April-May. At the helm of this strategic meeting was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, orchestrating discussions attended by BJP’s national president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and other eminent party figures.
Deliberations ensued regarding Lok Sabha constituencies spanning approximately 17 states, where decisions were etched for over 155 seats, a detailed record of which is slated for release in the imminent days.
The convocation witnessed the presence of Organizational General Secretary BL Santosh, alongside Chief Ministers, State Presidents, In-charges, Co-Incharges, and Election In-charges representing diverse states.
The august assembly included Chief Ministers from varied states—Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh, Bhupendra Patel of Gujarat, Mohan Yadav of Madhya Pradesh, Vishnu Deo Sai of Chhattisgarh, Pushkar Singh Dhami of Uttarakhand, and Pramod Sawant of Goa—each contributing to the discourse at the BJP headquarters.
Noteworthy attendees encompassed former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP luminary Prahlad Patel, and BJP’s State President VD Sharma. The session saw exhaustive dialogues revolving around potential candidates for all 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh.
Sources alluded to the imminent announcement of candidates hailing from Telangana, with a prospect of 4-5 names surfacing shortly. Noteworthy current MPs G Kishan Reddy, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and Arvind Dharmapuri might see their electoral journey extend. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath engaged in pivotal talks concerning candidate nominations during the meeting.
The discussions extended to candidates’ names across various states like Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Kerala, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, and Assam, where every Lok Sabha seat found representation. Assuredly, BJP will vie for eleven seats in Assam, with speculation surrounding Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s potential candidacy from Dibrugarh and State Minister Rameshwar Teli’s prospective journey to the Rajya Sabha. The deliberations further included candidate considerations for Jammu, while the terrain of Kashmir awaits examination in subsequent sessions.
In the labyrinth of political consultations, the discourse touched upon two to three seats in Delhi, with future deliberations earmarked. While one seat in Goa saw its contender crystallize, another awaits a verdict. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unfurled the banner of ‘Crossing 400’ as the rallying cry for this year’s Lok Sabha elections, with the BJP aspiring to clinch over 370 seats independently.