BJP candidate list is ready, will be announced today

NEW DELHI: The Central Election Committee meeting to approve the first list of BJP candidates for the Lok Sabha elections was completed yesterday at the party headquarters in Delhi. The candidates are likely to be announced today. BJP state president K Surendran and BDJS leader Thushar Vellapally held talks with JP Nadda to take a final decision on the candidates in Kerala.

It is indicated that the first list of candidates featuring prominent leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah was finalised in a meeting chaired by BJP National President JP Nadda. It is reported that the list of around 100 people will be released first. The list will also include seats in states, including Kerala where the BJP has not won yet. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Thiruvananthapuram), Suresh Gopi (Thrissur) and V. Muraleedharan (Attingal) are likely to be named candidates in Kerala. Union ministers and Rajya Sabha members S Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal are also tipped to contest for the Lok Sabha.

The Delhi unit has proposed the name of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi, the sitting seat of Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi. Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and late Sushma Swaraj's daughter Bansuri Swaraj are also likely to feature in the list of candidates.

Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah, Union Minister Rajnath Singh, BS Yediyurappa, Sarbananda Sonowal, Bhupendra Yadav, General Secretary of the organization BL Santhosh and others participated in the Central Election Committee meeting.