The Central Election Committee Meeting (CEC) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) convened at the party’s headquarters in Delhi on from 11pm on Thursday to 4am on Friday. The agenda primarily revolved around deliberating on Lok Sabha election seats spanning about 17 states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP’s National President JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Organisation General Secretary BL Santosh, along with Chief Ministers, State Presidents, In-charges, Co-Incharges, and Election In-charges from various states, gathered for the meeting. Notable attendees included Chief Ministers from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Assam, Uttarakhand, and Goa.
According to BJP sources, discussions encompassed the selection of candidates from Assam, with a commitment to filling all Lok Sabha seats with leaders from the state. BJP is set to contest eleven seats there, and Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is speculated to contest from Dibrugarh, while State Minister Rameshwar Teli may be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
PM Modi and Amit Shah be Included in the Initial List?
While the list isn’t expected until after noon, it’s anticipated that Mr. Modi will contest again for his seat in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi, a stronghold for the BJP since 1991, apart from a Congress victory in 2004.
His victories in 2014 and 2019 were commanding, with margins of 3.7 lakh and nearly 4.8 lakh votes respectively. There has been speculation that the Prime Minister’s attempt for a hat-trick might face a challenge from the INDIA bloc, with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being considered as a potential contender.
Another potential candidate was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, but this possibility has been dismissed since the Janata Dal (United) leader, a founding member of INDIA, has realigned with the BJP.
