BJP Central Election Committee's Hybrid Meet Likely at 10am to Pick UP Poll Candidates, PM Modi to Attend

The central election committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to meet at 10am on Thursday at the party headquarters in Delhi to decide its seat strategy for the February-March assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be among those present.

For the first time, such a meeting of the party will happen in a hybrid manner instead of the regular physical form, as several members of the committee have tested positive for Covid. Among those infected by the virus are BJP national president JP Nadda, defence minister Rajnath Singh and Bihar minister Shahnawaz Hussain.

Road and transport minister Nitin Gadkari, who had recently tested positive for Covid, has reportedly turned negative and is likely to attend the meeting physically.

State leaders including UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, election incharge Dharmendra Pradhan and party state president Swatantra Dev Singh will also be present.

Since the Prime Minister will participate in the meeting, all the members of the CEC have been asked to undertake RT PCR tests and those found positive should attend virtually.

A marathon meeting of the party’s state core unit took place for a couple of days this week in the national capital, with participants gathering from as early as 11am and going on till 8pm.

Sources say that a discussion has taken place and, barring a few seats, the core group has been able to shortlist candidates for most of the seats the BJP will contest in the UP polls.

Once the central election committee (CEC) finalises the list, the party will be in a position to declare the names of the candidates. The first round of the seven-phase elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, when the polls will begin from the western part of the state.

Members of the BJP parliamentary board are part of the CEC: Narendra Modi, JP Nadda, BL Santhosh, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Apart from them, those who are part of the committee include Shahnawaz Hussain, former union minister Jual Oram, and Vanathi Srinivasan, chief of the women’s wing of the party.

Read all the Latest Politics News here