The Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday held a meeting to finalise its candidates for the assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra. According to sources, the first list of candidates for both the states will be released on Monday.
The party's top brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, its chief Amit Shah and working president JP Nadda, deliberated for several hours with other CEC members and leaders from the two states to finalise names of candidates.
Sources said Modi was felicitated for his "successful" trip to the US.
The prime minister returned to Delhi on Saturday night from his trip to the US where he addressed the UN General Assembly and several events, including the "Howdy Modi!" diaspora gathering.
Asked about the delay in the announcement on the allocation of seats in Maharashtra with the Sena and some smaller allies, a party leader said the announcement may be made on Tuesday.
The Shiv Sena may field candidates for around 120-125 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, he said.
Both Maharashtra and Haryana are going to polls on October 21. The last day for filing of nomination is October 4.
Manohar Lal Khattar and Devendra Fadnavis, the chief ministers of Haryana and Maharashtra respectively, remain the face of the BJP in the polls with the party confident of retaining power riding on the back of Modi's popularity, "public support" to the Centre's decision to abrogate special status to Jammu and Kashmir and the achievements of its state governments.
In Haryana, former Indian Hockey team captain Sandeep Singh, Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and woman grappler Babita Phogat, who recently joined the BJP, are likely to be fielded by the party in the elections, sources said.
Khattar is expected to contest from Karnal, a seat from where he had won in 2014.
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BJP Central Election Committee (CEC) holds meeting at party headquarters
