(PTI)

THE Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to release its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday, when its central election committee is scheduled to meet. The list will have the names of most of the candidates for the first phase of polling, which will be held on April 11 in 91 seats.

The election for 543 parliamentary seats will be held in seven phases till May 19 and the counting of votes will be taken up on May 23. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party President Amit Shah and other top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders will attend the central election committee meeting.

All 42 seats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will go to the polls in the first phase with a fraction of constituencies in many other States, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam, also to witness polling on April 11. The Assembly polls in Telangana and Odisha will be held simultaneously with the General election.

With Modi known for dropping a number of incumbents in order to beat the anti-incumbency factor, the BJP has been abuzz with speculation over the fate of its sitting MPs. It has sought feedback from a number of sources, including the public, and has also asked its MPs to furnish details of the works they have carried out as it finalises its candidates for the upcoming polls.

BJP finalises candidates for 6 LS seats in J&K

JAMMU,

(PTI),

THE Jammu and Kashmir BJP unit on Friday said it has finalised candidates for six parliamentary constituencies in the State and will submit the list to the party’s parliamentary board in Delhi.

The names were finalised at a meeting of the party’s State election committee which met here under the chairmanship of national Vice-President and State in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna, a BJP spokesman said.

“A threadbare discussion was held on every single name before a final report was drafted to be presented to the parliamentary board,” he said.

Among the prominent leaders who attended the meeting were Union Minister Jitendra Singh, State party unit President Ravinder Raina and BJP MP Jugal Kishore. Khanna exhorted confidence that the party will win over 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.