The BJP Parliamentary Board and Central Election Committee under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to finalise party candidates for Karnataka Assembly polls on Sunday evening.
The PM-headed panels are likely to approve the first list comprising over 140 names. It will be made public either on Sunday night or Monday morning. Though the panels will discuss candidates for all 224 seats, some names will be released only in the second list after the Congress and the JD(S) announce their candidates for the remaining seats, sources in the BJP said.
The Congress is yet to announce candidates for 58 seats. The JD(S) has also not released its second list.
The BJP will release names for some segments only after the lists by the Congress and the JD(S) to prevent candidates from jumping ship, said a BJP leader.
On Saturday, party national president J P Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah held a day-long meeting about aspirants in each constituency.
The meet was attended by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, former CM B S Yediyurappa, National General Secretary (Organisation) B L Santosh, state unit chief Nalin Kumar Kateel, Karnataka election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Health Minister and election co-incharge Mansukh Mandaviya, National General Secretary C T Ravi, RSS functionary C R Mukhand and Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol.
The leaders discussed in detail separate surveys commissioned by the BJP central leadership, state unit and the chief minister, and suggested candidates’ names based on the report to the party’s Central Election Committee. Besides, the state unit had suggested three names for each constituency based on feedback from district units and block-level office-bearers.
The leaders also discussed the anti-incumbency faced by some of the sitting MLAs and alternative candidates to replace them. The central leaders strictly told state leaders not to suggest names based on recommendations by sitting Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha members. The only criterion for candidate selection should be winnability backed by survey reports and positive feedback from party workers, sources said.