Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a late-night meeting with BJP's central election committee (CEC) to finalise first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. BJP's late-night election meeting was attended by the party's senior leadership including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda. Now, sources in the known developments have revealed to True Scoop News that the BJP election meeting took place for atleast 10 hours. The BJP election meeting started at 6 pm on Thursday and took place till 4 am the next day. Notably, PM Modi continued to stay in the late-night meeting and stayed there until the meeting was over.
As per reports, the BJP may soon announce its first list of nearly 200 candidates. A newswire stated that the final nod has been given to at least 100 candidates who will be fighting Lok Sabha Elections on BJP's ticket. A news portal quoted a source saying that the BJP plans to name at least 50 percent of its candidates by March 10. The source further added that the saffron party is mulling to name around 100 candidates, excluding those from National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies.
Notably, leaders from various states, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Gujarat's Bhupendra Patel, Madhya Pradesh's Mohan Yadav, Chhattisgarh's Vishnu Deo Sai, Uttarakhand's Pushkar Singh Dhami, and Goa's Pramod Sawant, were among those who arrived at the BJP headquarters for the meeting in Delhi.
Reports further suggest that several seats from southern states were likely to figure in the BJP's first list of candidates. The saffron party will release list early to so that the candidates get about 50 days to campaign.
BJP leaders and from where may contest the Lok Sabha Polls 2024
As per reports, PM Modi will most probably contest from his stronghold Varanasi. On the other hand, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh may contest from Lucknow, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah may fight from Gandhinagar.
In West Bengal, it is reported that the saffron party is mulling to field Bhojpuri star Pawan Singh against Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Shatrughan Sinha in Asansol, Bengal. Furthermore, BJP leader & Bhojpuri actor Manoj Tiwari could contest from North East Delhi and his name could be included in the first list of candidates.
Talking about South India, Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai's name may also feature in the first candidates. In Kerala, V Muraleedharan, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs & Parliamentary Affairs, may also feature in the first list of BJP candidates.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is likely to contest the Lok Sabha Elections from Guna-Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh.