After three marathon meetings over the weekend, the BJP has finalised the names of 45 to 50 candidates it intends to field in the Assembly constituencies in the Capital, party sources aware of the proceedings said here on Monday.
At least three meetings revolving around the exercise had taken place, including one that began at 8 p.m. on Sunday evening and concluded around 2 a.m. on Sunday at BJP national president Amit Shah’s residence. The first list of the party’s candidates is expected latest by January 17.
Besides Mr. Shah, working national president J.P. Nadda and Delhi election in-charge Prakash Javadekar were also present in these meetings, according to party sources.
“There were two to three potential candidates whose names were finalised by the party’s Delhi Assembly Elections Committee for around 45 seats. The candidature of these individuals was discussed and one name per seat was arrived upon,” said a party source.
“Over the weekend, the thrust of the exercise was mainly to assess the winnability of potential candidates based on grassroots surveys related to their popularity. The finalised names will be assessed by the Central Election Committee, headed by Mr. Shah, which will then take a final call on the allotment of tickets,” the source said.
According to party insiders, the party was likely to announce the names of candidates to be fielded on 45 to 50 seats either by the evening of January 16 or early on January 17. This was given Mr. Shah's unavailability in the Capital for two consecutive days. The names of candidates to be fielded on the remaining seats, the insider said, were most likely to be released on January 18.
Sources claimed as many as “four to five” candidates had thrown their respective hats in the ring to contest from the New Delhi Assembly constituency – Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s home turf – and were being assessed.
Meanwhile, according to a senior party leader, the party was also examining the number of seats to be shared with its ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which had contested three seats in the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections and four in the 2015 elections.
