New Delhi, March 18 The BJP's Central Election Committee held a meeting here on Wednesday to discuss and finalize the names of the party candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls in Assam and Puducherry.
The meeting, presided over by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Nabin, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and party national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, among others.
According to sources, the meeting extensively deliberated on the list of names recommended by the respective state units.
Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Assam BJP president Dilip Saikia were present at the meeting.
While there was no official statement from the party, the meeting is also believed to have discussed names for the upcoming Assembly polls in Kerala and West Bengal.
BJP's election in-charge for West Bengal Bhupender Yadav, co-in charge for party affairs in the state Amit Malviya, and state president Samik Bhattacharya were present at the meeting. BJP election in-charge for Kerala Vinod Tawde and state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar also attended the deliberations.
The BJP released its first list of 144 candidates for next month's Assembly election in West Bengal, fielding Suvendu Adhikari from Bhabanipur in Kolkata, a seat held by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Adhikari was also fielded to retain the Nandigram seat in Purba Medinipur district, which he won after defeating Banerjee by 1,956 votes in 2021.
Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, later won a bypoll from Bhabanipur.
The BJP also released its first list of 47 candidates on Monday for the Kerala polls, fielding former Union ministers Chandrasekhar, V Muraleedharan, and George Kurian from the Nemom, Kazhakoottam, and Kanjirappally seats, respectively.
The saffron party is expected to release the names of its candidates for the remaining seats in West Bengal and Kerala soon.