BJP election panel meets to finalise more candidates, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt may get ticket

The BJP central election committee met here on Friday to finalise the party's candidates in several states for the Lok Sabha elections with its top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah, taking part in the exercise.

The states, where the party's nominees for the polls were discussed, included Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat and Goa.The party has decided to renominate Union minister Shripad Yesso Naik from North Goa parliamentary constituency, a senior party leader said.The party is, however, yet to make an official announcement.

The BJP is likely to field wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt in the Lok Sabha election from a constituency in Haryana, party sources said.His name was recommended by the BJP's state unit to the party's central election committee which met here, they said.Dutt, who won the bronze medal in the 2012 Olympic Games, is likely to be fielded from either Sonepat or Rohtak, the sources said.

The BJP had on Thursday released its first list of 184 candidates for the elections to 543-member Lok Sabha.Names of Modi and Shah figured in the list with the prime minister being fielded from Varanasi, the constituency he currently represents in the Lok Sabha.

The highlight of the list was the party's decision to field Shah from Gandhinagar in place of its veteran leader L K Advani.