BJP reportedly finalises 100 candidates amid rigorous selection process

The BJP has rpeortedly finalised a hundred Lok Sabha candidates after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a late-night meeting at his residence on Thursday. Sources have revealed that the first list is expected to be announced in the next few days.

The list will focus on high profile candidates such as PM Modi himself from Varanasi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah from Gujarat's Gandhinagar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow along with the 'weak' seats that the party lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by a small margin.

States that had the focus of the BJP top brass at Thursday's late-night meeting were Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Kerala and Telangana, among others.

Sources said that there is a possibility of Union Ministers, who are also Rajya Sabha MPs, contesting the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections likely to be held in April-May. These legislators include Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister Sarbanand Sonowal, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, and Union Minister of State (MoS) V Muraleedharan.

The BJP's list will also see the party focussing on fresh faces, including several women. For instance, the BJP could pitch Bhojpuri star Pawan Singh to take on Trinamool Congress MP and Bollywood legend Shatrughan Sinha in West Bengal's Asansol district.

On Thursday, PM Modi chaired a four-hour long CEC meeting to finalise the first of BJP's candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Starting at 10:30 pm, the meeting went on for over four hours. It was attended by BJP chief JP Nadda, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, among others.

Last week, top BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, JP Nadda and Adityanath, held a meeting to discuss the "weak seats" that may pose challenges for the party in the upcoming general elections.