MP polls: BJP may finalise second list of candidates on Wednesday

New Delhi: BJP Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting, to be held on Wednesday (September 13), may finalise second list of candidates for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, sources said.

The BJP, which had released the first list of its candidates for 39 seats on August 17, may give final approval to the remaining 64 seats, held by opposition parties, during party's CEC meeting.

The CEC meeting will discuss the candidates for the upcoming Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.

A source said the meeting would be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President J.P. Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, party General Secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh, among other party CEC members.

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP is preparing specially for the constituencies where it had faced defeat in 2018 assembly elections, with a particular focus on the 103 constituencies currently held by Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, and Independents.

On Monday, in a meeting at BJP President's residence, that lasted until midnight, Nadda and Amit Shah discussed the probable candidates for each seat with the leaders of the state core group. These names will be placed in the CEC meeting.

In the meeting, party's National Organisational Secretary B.L. Santosh, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP's in-charge of state elections and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, convener of the state election management committee and Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and other senior leaders involved in the preparations for the state elections were also present.

Eyeing an absolute majority in 2023, the BJP is making special preparations for the 103 Assembly seats.