The BJP names candidates in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, a first before election dates.



The party has announced 21 candidates for the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly and 39 candidates for the 230-seat Madhya Pradesh Assembly. The two states will have elections later this year.

The BJP today released the first names of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It is the first occasion that the BJP has revealed candidate names before the Election Commission of India has set poll dates.

The party has declared 21 candidates for the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly and 39 candidates for the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly.

The news comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over a meeting of the BJP's central election committee, the party's decision-making body for candidate selection and poll strategy development.

The BJP's extraordinary move to release candidate names ahead of time appears to be geared at uncovering tension among the ranks so that issues may be sorted ahead of time.

Following the catastrophe in Karnataka earlier this year, the party is not in the mood for another. Along with Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh will have elections later this year.

Opposition forces dominate Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. Following the upheaval in Manipur, the BJP's ties with its ally and ruling party, the Mizo National Front, have been strained in Mizoram. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP and the Congress are likely to go head to head.

The name of Vijay Baghel, Lok Sabha MP from Durg, stands out among those on the Chhattisgarh list. He is a previous MLA from Patan and is running from the same seat this time. Former Chief Minister Raman Singh's name and the names of other top party officials are absent from the initial list.

 The BJP's Chhattisgarh roster includes five women, ten Scheduled Tribes candidates, and one Scheduled Castes candidate. The party has picked five women, eight Scheduled Caste candidates, and 13 Scheduled Tribes candidates for Madhya Pradesh.