The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) will release its first list of at least 100 candidates for the April-May Lok Sabha elections by the end of February, reports said.
The list will have names of candidates from seats in states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, according to a report in Economic Times. These seats are considered weak as the party couldn’t win them in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In the seven-phase general elections held between April 11 and May 19 in 2019, the BJP won 303 seats with a record 37.36 percent vote share, highest vote share by a political party since the 1989 general election. Overall, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 353 seats. The Congress won 52 seats while the United Progressive Alliance won 91 seats in the election.
This time the BJP-led NDA is up against a amalgamation of Opposition parties called Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc.
For the 2024 polls, the BJP has identified 160 seats that the party deems weak and thus organised early campaigning and public contact programmes over the past one year, according to the ET report.
The first list of candidates, which has been finalised, is expected to include names of some Union ministers as well, sources said. A clearance from the party’s central election committee is awaited, they said. The panel is likely to meet on February 29. Its earlier meeting scheduled for February 22 couldn’t happen.
The party leadership has realised that announcing names of candidates in advance for weak seats pays off as happened in case of recent assembly elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a record third term in the upcoming elections. Jawaharlal Nehru is the only Prime Minister of India to have three terms so far. Nehru who was the Prime Minister for 16 years, couldn’t complete the third term, however, due to his death in 1964.
Speaking at the BJP’s National Council meet in New Delhi last week, PM Modi emphasised that the the BJP needs to reach every new voter. “I am not asking for the third term to enjoy power…. I am living for the future of poor children. The dreams of crores of women, poor and youth are Modi’s resolve,” Modi said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking at the same event, expressed confidence that his party will retain power in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
“There is no doubt in country; people have made up their mind that PM Modi will retain power,” Shah said.
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Published: 23 Feb 2024, 08:15 AM IST