Ahmedabad
Party may announce candidates in two phases, may wait till Congress list
Updated : Mar 23, 2019, 06:00 AM IST
BJP's candidate list for Lok Sabha polls on Gujarat seats may take more time as the party is considering making the announcement only after March 29 or release it in two phases.
Gujarat BJP leaders were in New Delhi to discuss the names of candidates with the central parliamentary board of the party on Thursday and Friday.
Gujarat BJP leaders including CM Vijay Rupani and party chief Jitu Vaghani and others were in New Delhi to attend the central parliamentary board of BJP. They had prepared the panel of names for all 26 seats and that was put before the central parliamentary board for further selection.
A senior BJP leader said on condition of anonymity, "The party is in no hurry to announce the list of candidates. It is possible that the list may come after March 28. The leaders may wait for Congress' list to come first, so the selection of candidates can be made accordingly."
"There are some 10 to 12 seats where only single names have been proposed by the state leaders before the central leadership Those names can be announced in the first phase. This list may come within two-three days. But there are several seats where proper political calculations have to be made and only then will the candidates be announced," added the party leader.
While the party had decided to drop some nine to ten sitting MPs, with the announcement of Amit Shah's candidature for Gandhinagar seat, sitting MP LK Advani's name has also been dropped.
"It is believed that many of the sitting MPs may not get the chance to contest again but the state leaders have kept their names in the final panel of three names for the seats. The central leadership will take a final call. Hence, it is very premature to say that they may not be repeated. But there is a feeling among party cadres that more fresh faces should be given an opportunity this time," the leader added.
The Gujarat BJP has been preparing for the poll campaign and other strategic meetings. The party headquarter Shri Kamalam is buzzing with activities at day and night. Party leaders have charted out programmes of public rallies and planned strategic meetings on party campaigns on social media, booth-level micro planning, voters' outreach programme, filing of nomination, code of conduct are the issues which are on high priority and experts on each of the subjects have been guiding the party cadres at Shri Kamalam.