In anticipation of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the BJP’s Central Election Committee is set to convene at its headquarters in the national capital on Monday evening, aiming to stay ahead of its competitors. Party sources suggest that the meeting may finalize candidates for several Lok Sabha seats.
Notably, the meeting will host representatives from the BJP’s allies within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, and Bihar. Discussions on seat-sharing arrangements are anticipated between the allies and the BJP’s top leadership during the meeting.
On a related note, on Sunday, in the presence of the party’s general secretary Tarun Chugh in New Delhi, four leaders from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and one from the Congress officially joined the BJP. The defectors from BRS included former MPs Godam Nagesh and Sitaram Naik, along with former MLAs Saidhi Reddy and Jalagam Venkat Rao.
As part of its election preparations, on March 2, the BJP had released its initial list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The list was topped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking re-election for the third consecutive term from Varanasi. Among the 195 candidates, 34 are ministers from both the central and state governments, while two are former chief ministers.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a total of 303 seats, leaving the main opposition party with 52 seats. The Lok Sabha polls are expected to take place sometime between April and May this year.
