After releasing the first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition Congress will hold their respective poll committee meetings on Monday to finalise candidates for the remaning seats.
BJP prepares for 2nd list of candidates
The BJP’s central election committee will convene for another round at the party headquarters in Delhi on Monday evening to discuss candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, news agency ANI reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP’s national president JP Nadda, home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, BJP’s organisation general secretary BL Santosh, chief ministers, state presidents, in-charges, co-Incharges, and election in-charges of various states are expected to attend the meeting.
The BJP has released its first list of candidates for 195 constituencies, covering nearly 155 seats the party secured in the 2019 polls.
Notably, the list marks the exclusion of over 20 per cent of its current MPs.
The list includes 51 seats from Uttar Pradesh, 24 from Madhya Pradesh, 20 from West Bengal, 15 each from Gujarat and Rajasthan, 12 from Kerala, nine from Telangana, 11 each from Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand, five from Delhi, three from Uttarakhand, two each from Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, and one each from Goa, Tripura, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Daman and Diu.
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Congress to finalise second list of candidates
The Congress party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) will convene for its second meeting at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi on Monday evening, sources said, PTI reported.
Scheduled for 6 pm, the meeting will be chaired by party national president Mallikarjun Kharge, where Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party MP Rahul Gandhi are expected to remain present.
Discussions on Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh are slated for the upcoming second meeting, sources said.
Discussion on West Bengal will not be taken up in this meeting, sources said, as the party faced an upset with Trinamool Congress deciding to go solo, and Mamata Banerjee announced candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
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Congress previously released its first list of candidates for 39 Lok Sabha constituencies, which included states like Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Telangana, and Tripura.
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The 39 candidates include 16 from Kerala, seven from Karnataka, six from Chhattisgarh, and four from Telangana, with two from Meghalaya, and one each from Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, and Lakshadweep.
Dates for 2024 Lok Sabha elections
The Election Commission of India, which was expected to announce the Lok Sabha election dates for 2024 around March 14-15, may now face a delay as election commissioner Arun Goel resigned on Saturday.
This resignation, coupled with the earlier vacancy due to the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey, leaves two openings in the top body.
The government looks to fill these vacancies with the appointment of two new election commissioners by March 15.
The Lok Sabha polls are expected to take place in April-May this year.
