In a first, the BJP came up with the names of candidates even before the Election Commission of India announces the poll dates. The names were finalised at the BJP's Central Election Committee meeting on Wednesday.
Ahead of the much awaited assembly polls the BJP on Thursday released its first of 21 candidates for poll-bound Chhattisgarh and 39 for Madhya Pradesh, including five women each in both the states. In a first, the BJP came up with the names of candidates even before the Election Commission of India announces the poll dates.
The BJP's decision to announce the names well in advance is getting interpreted as an endeavour aimed at identifying friction within the ranks so that issues can be resolved well in advance.
It has been reported that the BJP has fielded Vijay Baghel, its Durg MP, from Patan which is currently represented by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel.
The names were finalised at the BJP's Central Election Committee meeting on Wednesday in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief J P Nadda, Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah and others.
In Chhattisgarh, the BJP has fielded Baghel from Patan, Bhulan Singh Maravi from Premnagar, Laxmi Rajwade from Bhatgaon, Shakuntala Singh Porthe from Pratappur (ST), Sarla Kosaria from Saraipali (SC), Alka Chandrakar from Khallari, Gita Ghasi Sahu from Khujji and Maniram Kashyap from Bastar (ST), among others.
In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has fielded Sarla Vijendra Rawat from Sabalgarh, Priyanka Meena from Chachaoura, Lalita Yadav from Chhatarpur, Anchal Sonkar from Jabalpur Purba (SC), Nirmala Bhuriya from Petlawad, Bhanu Bhuriya from Jhabua (ST), Alok Sharma from Bhopal Uttar and Dhruv Narayan Singh from Bhopal Madhya, among others.
The BJP is in power only in Madhya Pradesh and is running an intense campaign to oust the Congress government in Chhattisgarh.
The BJP in 2018 had won only 15 of the 90 seats in the Chhattisgarh assembly against 68 of the Congress while its tally of seats was 109 against 114 of the Congress in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly.