BJP Central Election Committee meeting held in New Delhi

Srinagar, Aug 25: The meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Central Election Committee (CEC) was held in New Delhi to finalise the names of the candidates for upcoming assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President J P Nadda, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Jitendra Singh, and other CEC members were present in the meeting.  According to sources, the BJP would focus more on new faces in the three-phase Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.

Elections to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be held in three phases.

The names of the candidates were finalised a few days ago and submitted to the BJP high command for final seal.

The sources said that the BJP would release its first list of 70 candidates on Monday morning.

They said that the final list of the remaining 20 candidates would be released after the second meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Party.

The sources said that barring a few in Jammu and Kashmir, the high command would field new faces in 90 constituencies.

Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina had recently said that the party would contest assembly elections on its own in 70 to 80 seats in J&K but talks are on with some independent candidates in Kashmir and those who will be able to win.

Sources said that many political leaders aspiring to contest elections had joined the party.

They said that the names of the new entrants were under consideration but ignoring the old loyalists, who had selflessly contributed to the party's rise in Jammu and Kashmir, does not stand a chance.