BJP gearing up to name candidates for upcoming state polls

NEW DELHI: With the announcement soon expected of the dates for Assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra, BJP is all set to declare its first list of candidates and is likely to hold a meeting of its Central Election Committee (CEC) tomorrow.

Sources said the party has convened the CEC meeting to decide on the names of some of its top leaders in its first list for Haryana.

The meeting, convened late in the evening, will be chaired by BJP President Amit Shah and is to be attended by, among others, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who hails from Haryana.

Elections in Haryana and Maharashtra are due shortly as the terms of the Assemblies in the two states expire on October 27 and November 11, respectively.

BJP is gearing up for contesting Assembly polls alone in Haryana after its tie-up with Haryana Janhit Congress ended last month. Haryana has a 90-member state Assembly.

In Maharashtra, which has a 288-member Assembly, BJP is in an alliance with Shiv Sena and RPI-A. It is working out the seat-sharing arrangement with its allies in the state.

BJP is also trying to iron out differences between the alliance partners over seat-sharing as it is looking for a bigger share of seats to contest.