The Bharatiya Janata Party is set to release its first list of about 170 candidates for the Assembly elections, on April 5.
According to sources in the BJP, top leaders, including Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and State unit president Pralhad Joshi, will visit Delhi on that day to get clearance from the central election committee. The list will be announced after the nod is received.
Though the BJP wants its first list to have around 170 names, it is learnt that only 148 names had been finalised so far. The remaining are expected to be finalised by April 5 by Mr. Joshi, who is believed to have been authorised by the party to complete the task.
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After the first list is announced, the party’s core committee is scheduled to meet here on April 8 to finalise the names of candidates for the remaining 54 constituencies. Finalising the first list of candidates in constituencies that were not represented by party MLAs has become a tough task for BJP leaders owing to the large number of aspirants.
The number of aspirants touched 20 in some of the constituencies. Following this, the party held two rounds of consultations with its district units to take their assistance in choosing the candidates. The main intention was to take them into confidence in the selection process as part of the efforts to ensure a unanimous selection to check the possibility of any rebellion by the disappointed ticket aspirants, sources noted.