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New Delhi: The BJP Headquarters in New Delhi is bracing for a bustling evening on Wednesday, with a multitude of party members gathering to extend a warm welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the successful G20 Summit.
India’s hosting of this prestigious summit and its achievement of a consensus on the New Delhi Declaration are being hailed as significant diplomatic triumphs.
Immediately after the welcome ceremony, the Prime Minister will turn his attention to electoral matters, participating in the BJP’s Central Election Committee meeting to finalize candidate selections for the pivotal Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh elections.
On August 16, the committee had previously convened and announced candidates for 39 constituencies in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and 21 in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh. These were constituencies where the BJP did not have incumbent MLAs.
Sources suggest that Wednesday’s meeting is likely to entail discussions regarding 50 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh and 35 in Chhattisgarh. Madhya Pradesh has 230 Assembly seats, while Chhattisgarh has 90.
The committee’s other members include BJP President J P Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The decision to name candidates back in August, three months ahead of the state elections, surprised many, as it marked the first time the BJP had announced a list before the Election Commission of India had declared the poll dates.
This move was seen as an effort to preempt any internal discord within the party and resolve issues prior to the elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram. This was especially significant as the party had faced defeats in all these states in 2018, except for Mizoram, where an NDA ally had formed the government with the BJP playing a minor role.
