The Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to release its first list of candidates either today or tomorrow after the party’s Central Election Committee meeting concluded Sunday. The meeting, which went for over three hours at the party headquarters, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda, among other members of the CEC including Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai from the state as the leadership deliberated on the names of the probable candidates.
Following the meeting, Bommai said that PM Modi has given some “directions” and the names of the candidates will be announced either on Monday or Tuesday, as per a PTI report.
While an announcement is yet to be made, sources told ABP Live that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is expected to contest the polls from the Shiggaon Assembly seat, former chief minister Yediyurappa’s son Vijendran will contest from the Shikarpur Assembly seat, and CT Ravi will contest from Chikmagalur.
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The party will re-elect approximately 90 BJP MLAs, sources further said.
The party’s core group had shortlisted three names for each Assembly seat which was placed before the CEC after which the party’s central leadership brainstormed over these names before locking the candidates.
On Saturday, a parliamentary board meeting of the BJP leaders took place at party president JP Nadda’s residence in the national capital. The meeting was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Karnataka BJP president Nalinkumar Kateel, former Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, and other party leaders attended the meeting.
The state will go to polls on May 10 and the votes will be counted on May 13. The term of the current Karnataka Legislative Assembly is set to end on May 24 this year.