New Delhi: Senior BJP leaders on Monday held a meeting in the national capital to decide on the candidate list for the first phase of the upcoming state Assembly elections in Bihar.
The meeting is currently underway at BJP national president JP Nadda's residence. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Bihar BJP in-charge Bhupendra Yadav, Bihar BJP election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis, and several other prominent leaders from the state are present at the meeting.
The BJP is likely to release its list of candidates for the first phase by late evening, which will also shed light on the seat-sharing agreement between the saffron party and JD(U).
According to reports, the BJP and JD(U) are expected to contest on an equal number of seats, with Nitish Kumar's party sacrificing a few seats from its won quota to Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM.
Meanwhile, sources said that VIP chief Mukesh Sahani too is in contact with the BJP high command, and if his party does join the NDA fold, it will be the saffron party which will sacrifice a few seats from its quota.
Read: BJP CEC meets to finalise candidates for Bihar polls
Earlier yesterday, the BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) had already held a meeting after reportedly finalising names for almost all candidates for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections on the seats on which ally JD(U) has not staked its claim.
The CEC meeting, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party President J.P. Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, among others, also deliberated upon names and weighed in strengths and weaknesses of the probables' list sent by the state unit for the second phase.
The hurry in the CEC meeting came as the last date for filing nominations for the first phase, involving 71 out of the total 243 constituencies, is October 8.
Read: BJP likely to announce 1st Bihar list with 50+ names today
