Delhi polls: BJP to announce candidates on January 19

 BJP will announce its candidates for the February 7 Delhi Assembly election on January 19 when the party's Central Election Committee meets in New Delhi.

Sources said BJP is likely to announce a majority of its candidates on the day, after the party top brass led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah deliberate on the poll strategy. Though the poll process started since Wednesday with the issue of the notification, nominations can be filed upto January 22. BJP is likely to contest majority of the total of 70 seats, leaving some to its ally Akali Dal. Last time, it had fought for 66 seats and gave four to Akali Dal.

In its bid to get a majority in the national capital, which it missed by a narrow margin in the last elections, BJP has roped in the country's first woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi. Sources say that with Bedi joining the party, BJP now has a prominent face in the Delhi unit of the party. The party leaders feel Bedi can woo the youth, women, middle-class and service class as well as Sikh voters in the national capital. Sources say that BJP is also likely to focus at the booth level and will field such faces who have a clean public image. BJP is likely to go in this election without a Chief Ministerial candidate, unlike the last time when it had declared Harshvardhan as the party's face for the top post.