The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold its Central Election Committee meeting on Sunday, according to sources, with Karnataka Assembly elections scheduled for next month.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP chief JP Nadda, party general secretary B L Santhosh, and members of the party’s Central Election Committee are expected to attend the meeting, according to sources. Earlier on Saturday, Shah met with BJP President Jitendra Singh Nadda at his residence in the national capital to discuss and finalise the list of candidates for the May 10 elections. Karnataka BJP president Nalinkumar Kateel, former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and other leaders were also present at Nadda’s residence.
Party sources said the core group of the BJP in Karnataka have shortlisted three names for each Assembly seat, which will be placed before the Central Election Committee. Earlier, speaking to reporters, Bommai said a discussion over the selection of candidates for 224 Assembly constituencies will take place at the core committee meeting of the BJP.
“Today, an important meeting is to be held under the guidance of BJP national president JP Nadda. During this meeting, a discussion over candidate selection for 224 assembly seats will be done. And tomorrow Parliamentary board of the party is also meeting,” the Karnataka chief minister said.
BJP is yet to declare its candidates for the polls. Chief Minister Bommai retorted that the main opposition party in Karnataka couldn’t find candidates for many seats and had to rely on others.
Former Karnataka chief minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa said on Friday that the party’s list of candidates for the Assembly elections would be finalised soon.
Karnataka, the BJP’s only southern state in power, is currently undergoing a high-decibel election campaign as the saffron party seeks to retain control of the state.
According to a top BJP source, the ruling party intends to carpet-bomb the state with heavyweight campaigns. “Karnataka has also decided on the names of 40 top campaigners. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and several Union ministers such as Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, and Nirmala Sitharaman are included. Everyone has been asked to give two weeks in the poll-bound state “He went on to say.
So far, the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular have announced 166 and 93 candidates for the Karnataka elections, respectively.