BJP releases first list of 21 candidates for Chhattisgarh polls, 39 for M.P. elections

BJP announces first list of candidates for Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls. 21 and 39 names of candidates, including five women each, announced respectively

The BJP on Thursday (August 17) released its first of 21 candidates for Chhattisgarh and 39 for Madhya Pradesh, including five women each in both the States, for the upcoming Asembly polls which are yet to be announced.

The names were decided at the BJP's Central Election Committee meeting on Wednesday which was chaired by party chief J.P. Nadda and attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah among other senior leaders.

In Chhattisgarh, the BJP has fielded Lok Sabha MP Vijay 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 party's decision to announce the first list of candidates so early underlines the significance it has attached to five State elections, the last round of Assembly contest before the all-important Lok Sabha polls.

Besides Chhattisgarh and MP, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram are scheduled to go to polls later this year.

The BJP is in power only in Madhya Pradesh and is running an intense campaign to oust the Congress government in Chhattisgarh.