Shillong, October 2: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gearing up to unveil its initial list of approximately 45 candidates following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to Rajasthan, a move in preparation for the upcoming state elections, according to party sources.
As per IANS, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to be in Rajasthan on October 2 and October 5.
During a meeting of the BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) held on Sunday night, the names of about 45 candidates were endorsed as part of the party’s preparations for the Rajasthan Assembly elections.
The CEC meeting, chaired by BJP National President J.P. Nadda and attended by Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, provided final approval after an extensive discussion on the initial list of candidates.
Approximately 40 to 50 candidate names were finalized during the meeting, and the release of the list is expected shortly.
Additionally, there were discussions during the meeting about the possibility of party Members of Parliament (MPs) contesting in the elections.
Key figures from the Rajasthan BJP, including State President C.P. Joshi, Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, and Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Kailash Chaudhary, and Bhupendra Yadav, participated in the meeting. State BJP Incharge Arun Singh, State BJP Co-Incharge Vijaya Rahatkar, State Organisation General Secretary Chandrashekhar, Deputy Leader of Opposition Satish Poonia, and Om Mathur were also in attendance.
Rajasthan BJP leaders had gathered in Delhi for two days to participate in the discussions, with State President Joshi, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, and Leader of Opposition Rathore arriving in the capital on September 30.
During the meeting, candidates for 62 seats were deliberated upon, with approvals granted for approximately 40 to 50 names. The initial candidate list from the BJP is expected to encompass both ‘A’ and ‘D’ category seats, denoting areas where the party is considered ‘stronger’ and ‘weaker.’ The ‘A’ category includes 29 seats, while the ‘D’ category comprises 19 seats.