New Delhi [India], October 18 (ANI): As part of their preparation for the upcoming Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s core groups from both states convened separate meetings here in the national capital on Tuesday. Both meetings took place at the residence of BJP‘s national president JP Nadda and focused on the BJP‘s ticket-sharing strategy
Apart from JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Rajasthan BJP Chief CP Joshi, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Rajasthan BJP in charge Pralhad Joshi, and former state CM Vasundhara Raje, among other leaders were also present. According to sources, the party deliberated over the allocation of 159 out of 200 seats in the Rajasthan assembly, building upon the previous list of 41 candidates. The BJP is expected to announce the names of 80 to 90 candidates in its next list.
In a bid to secure the Rajput community’s votes, constituting 15 per cent of the state’s total voters, the party has introduced two new ‘Rajput’ leaders, Maharaja Vishwaraj Singh Mewad and Bhawani Singh Kalve. Following the 2018 Rajasthan assembly polls, where the BJP struggled to win over the Rajput community, the party is actively working to gain their support. The BJP released the list of 41 candidates for the assembly polls on October 1.
However, reports of discontent among BJP members in Rajasthan surfaced after the initial candidate list was released by the party. During the meeting, it was decided that the BJP would make efforts to persuade the ‘disappointed’ leaders, considering the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024, according to sources.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the BJP‘s Madhya Pradesh core group was also held at JP Nadda’s residence late on Tuesday evening. Home Minister Amit Shah, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, campaign committee chairpersons Narendra Singh Tomar, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Hitanand Sharma, VD Sharma, and Bhupendra Yadav, among other leaders were present.
The senior leaders discussed the candidate list for the remaining 96 seats in the Madhya Pradesh assembly. The schedule for assembly elections in five states–Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram–was announced last week. Voting will take place between November 7 and November 30, with the counting of votes scheduled for December 3. While Chhattisgarh will vote in two phases, all other states will hold one-day polls.
The BJP has already announced 136 candidates for Madhya Pradesh and 41 for Rajasthan, with the first list of candidates for the Telangana assembly poll yet to be announced. (ANI)
