UP assembly polls: BJP likely to announce first list of 177 candidates by Jan 16 or 17

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been holding meetings for the past two days, continued on Thursday also for the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. It is learnt that apart from the party's election strategies several issues have also come up for discussion.

New Delhi: The BJP has finalised tickets for more than 100 seats for the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to chair the Central Election Committee meeting. Besides, it is also expected that the BJP will also declare the first list of candidates for UP polls on January 16 or 17. In the first list, at least the names of 177 candidates will be out, according to sources.

The party's meetings were going on for the past two days and on Wednesday the discussion took place between leaders of BJP high command, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and senior leaders of the party. On day one of the meeting, talks were held on 'election scenario' and on the next day that is on Wednesday, discussions were conducted on 'scope of alliance'. Besides, on the top of the agenda was; from where UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will contest, stated the source.

The saffron party convened a meeting of its Core Group also on Wednesday at its headquarters in New Delhi. It has been learnt from the highly placed sources that Yogi Adityanath will contest the election from Ayodhya. Senior BJP leaders wanted to know about his opinion on Wednesday's meeting, adds the source.

As per the poll dates announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the poll process will commence from western Uttar Pradesh and conclude at the eastern part of the state. So, BJP also worked on the strategy of deployment of its leaders for rallies and meetings accordingly. Besides, what will be the impact of the defection of two Dalit UP ministers Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Singh Chauhan on the party, were also discussed during the meeting, said the source.

Senior BJP leaders also advised party leaders to desist from giving statements to the media on the defection of UP ministers to other parties. According to sources, the saffron party is considering it as a loss and also chalking out a strategy of how to compensate for the desertion of its two Dalit leaders. Besides, the performance of at least 55 UP MLAs was being reviewed and there is the possibility that their tickets may not be allocated for them to contest the elections. However, the axe will not fall on UP ministers, said the source.