Union Home Minister Amit Shah, along with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s national president J.P. Nadda, and the party organisation’s General Secretary B.L. Santosh, returned to Delhi on Thursday after a meeting in Rajasthan. The meeting was held in order to brainstorm and formulate strategies ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.
All three leaders have advised the state BJP unit to stay “firmly united.” Additionally, they expressed dissatisfaction with the low turnout during the Parivartan Sankalp Yatra and reports of internal rivalry among leaders.
Following the initial meeting on Wednesday, which lasted into the early hours of Thursday, the three party leaders held an informal conversation with senior leaders on Thursday morning. During this time, there was reportedly more brainstorming that took place regarding the party’s candidates.
On Thursday afternoon, the Union Home Minister, along with the BJP president and general secretary left for Delhi. Shah and Nadda had been scheduled to meet with RSS officials on Thursday as well. However, this meeting was cancelled.
It is still unclear whether the meeting was cancelled by the Sangh or the BJP. Meanwhile, a meeting with the Sangh’s officials of Amit Shah and J.P. Nadda was also scheduled for Thursday.
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who was part of the meeting until about 2:30 am, spoke to the media on Wednesday night.
He said discussions were held on various issues during the meeting. However, when asked about MPs contesting elections, he said that this was for party leadership to decide. He also mentioned that there was no discussion regarding the issue during the meeting. State President C.P. Joshi stated that discussions were held on the party’s upcoming programs. Whether the formula of contesting elections for MPs is applied in Rajasthan or not will be decided by the Central Election Committee.
A meeting of the Central Election Committee has been scheduled, along with meetings of the BJP’s Central Election Committee.
The selection of candidates for the Assembly elections was finalised during the meeting. Party leaders said that the BJP would announce the candidates for the Assembly elections at an “appropriate time”. After the meeting, BJP election in-charge Pralhad Joshi said that discussions were held on “many subjects”.
Along with the selection of candidates, programs have been finalised until the elections are announced. He said that suggestions are being taken from everyone regarding the MPs contesting in Rajasthan, similar to the Madhya Pradesh formula.