Indus Valley Times

NEW DELHI,AUG 17: The BJP today announced the first list of candidates for Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh for the assembly elections due later this year. The list was released even before the Election Commission announced dates for the polls in what is being viewed as a first for the party.

The party named 21 candidates for Chhattisgarh which has 90 assembly seats, and 39 for Madhya Pradesh which has 230 members in the state assembly.

The party’s swift move followed a meeting of its top election body on Wednesday to review preparations for the elections. Sources say Prime Minister Narendra Modi instructed the senior leadership to announce the first set of candidates at the earliest to give them sufficient time to prepare.

The candidates’ list for both states focuses on seats that the party sees itself as weak in.

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The BJP’s first list of 21 candidates for the Chhattisgarh polls includes five women.

In Chhattisgarh, the BJP has fielded 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, who is a sitting MP, had been pitted against uncle and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel in Patan. The assembly seat is currently represented by Bhupesh Baghel.

BJP’S CANDIDATE FOR MADHYA PRADESH POLLS

Five women candidates were named in the first list of 39 candidates released by the Bharatiya Janata Party for Madhya Pradesh polls.

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has fielded 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 from Bhopal Madhya, among others.

The first list is concentrated on those seats that the party sees itself as weak in, sources said.

The election to 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly and 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly is scheduled to take place in the upcoming months.

-PTI