NEW DELHI: The BJP on Sunday held its Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting at the party headquarters in New Delhi to review the list of candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections, which will be held in a phased manner on November 6 and 11.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other CEC members were present in the meet chaired by the party’s national president, JP Nadda. Although the party did not immediately issue any public statement divulging the minutes of the meeting, party sources reveal that the discussions mostly centred around the winnability of each candidate, taking into consideration multiple political factors.
An insider privy to the deliberations shared, “The party could drop around 1 to 2% of the sitting MLAs in order to accommodate newcomers.” However, the overall likelihood of the BJP ditching the incumbents remains low. Only those legislators facing high anti-incumbency stand to lose out on a ticket.
Another concern that reportedly surfaced during the meet was dynastic politics. The party is making sure “not to give tickets to any close relatives of sitting MLAs or MPs”. Sources say this would reflect in the final list of candidates. Further, the party is considering fielding more women and a member of the Muslim community, too.
Moreover, PM Modi will virtually interact with some party workers in Bihar and seek their suggestions for the party’s manifesto ahead of the polls. The interaction is expected to boost the morale of the party workers so that they go all out to ensure the party’s victory.
Notably, the BJP has bagged 101 seats in the NDA seat-sharing deal announced Sunday.