The BJP today announced the first list of candidates for Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh for the parliamentary elections later this year. The list was made public even before the Election Commission announced the election date in what is considered the party's first election.
The party nominated 21 candidates for Chhattisgarh, which has 90 council seats, and 39 for Madhya Pradesh, which has 230 state council members.
The party's snap decision came after a meeting of the top election body on Wednesday to review preparations for the election. Sources say Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the senior leadership to announce the first batch of candidates as soon as possible to give them enough time to prepare. The list of candidates for the two states focuses on seats that the party considers weak.
The first list of 21 BJP candidates for the Chhattisgarh election included five women.
In Chhattisgarh, BJP performed Lok Sabha MP Vijay Baghel from Patan, Bhulan Singh Maravi from Premnagar, Laxmi Rajwade from Bhatgaon, Shakuntala Singh Porthe from Pratappur (ST), Sarla Kosaria from Saraipali (SC), Alka Chandrakar from Khallari, Gita Ghasi Sahu from Khujji and Maniram Kashyap from Bastar (ST), among others.
Notably, Vijay Baghel, an incumbent MP, was pitted against his uncle and Congress senior leader Bhupesh Baghel in Patan. The seat of the council is currently represented by Bhupesh Baghel.
BJP CANDIDATE IN MADHYA PRADESH
Five female candidates have been named in the first list of 39 candidates announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the Madhya Pradesh polls.
In Madhya Pradesh, BJP recruited Sarla Vijendra Rawat from Sabalgarh, Priyanka Meena from Chachaoura, Lalita Yadav from Chhatarpur, Anchal Sonkar from Jabalpur Purba (SC), Nirmala Bhuriya from Petlawad, Bhanu Bhuriya from Jhabua (ST), Alok Sharma from Bhopal Uttar and Dhruv Narayan Singh of Bhopal Madhya, among others.
Sources said the first list focused on seats the party considered weak.
Elections to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Council and 90-member Chhattisgarh Council are expected to occur in the coming months.
