PM Modi leads late-night meeting to finalise Lok Sabha Candidates

Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted a late-night meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party's top decision-making body. The objective of the meeting was to finalize the first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. 

This meeting, which included key figures such as the BJP's chief strategist Amit Shah, party chief JP Nadda, and senior leaders like Rajnath Singh, took place at the party headquarters in Delhi.

As per the reports, the focus was on reviewing lists drafted by over 550 members of the Central Election Committee (CEC). PM Modi held a separate meeting with Shah and Nadda at his residence, while other CEC members examined lists of potential candidates at the BJP headquarters.

The meeting centred around selecting candidates for Lok Sabha seats in critical states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Telangana, Rajasthan, Goa, Gujarat, and others. 

However, decisions regarding candidates for states like Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu were deferred. This is due to pending ongoing discussions with Akali Dal, the Telugu Desam Party, Jana Sena, and AIADMK, NDTV reports.

The BJP aimed to announce candidates for more than 50% of the Lok Sabha seats ahead of the election announcement. The strategy is similar to the 2019 general elections when the BJP revealed 164 candidates ahead of the date announcement.

Meanwhile, the Congress was engaged in rapid seat-sharing negotiations in Maharashtra. The BJP's proactive approach aimed to secure a strategic advantage and project confidence in the upcoming elections.