Bengaluru: The ruling BJP will release this evening its first list of about 170 to 180 candidates for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections, the party's Parliamentary Board member B S Yediyurappa said on Monday. "The list will be released by this evening," the former Chief Minister told reporters in New Delhi.
There is one more meeting today to finalise the list, the Karnataka BJP strongman said, adding that he is confident of its release by this evening. He said 170 to 180 names would be announced in the first list.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the BJP CEC meeting to finalise names of assembly candidates as Karnataka goes to polls next month. The BJP Central Election Committee met in New Delhi on Sunday to finalise the party's candidates for the Karnataka assembly polls scheduled for Monday (Today). Prime Minister Modi and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda and other members of the CEC were joined by senior party leaders, including Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, as they deliberated on the names of probable candidates.
Senior party leaders have been holding talks for a couple of days to winnow down the list of probables before the CEC takes a final call. The BJP, which aims to come back to power again in the southern state, has set a target of winning at least 150 of the 224 seats. The party's main rival is the Congress which has also expressed confidence about coming back to power in the state. (With agency inputs)
