BJP to declare its candidate list between March 16 and 22

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will declare its candidates' list in between March 16 to 22, party sources said here on Thursday.

The party's Central Election Committee meet will be held on March 16, 18 and 22 to seal the final list of candidates. The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the party headquarters here, sources told Millennium Post.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties are ahead of shortlisting and declaring their candidate lists, but the incumbent party is meticulously picking the candidates this time, over their 'winnability' factor- including BJP members or new entries. Recently, many faces from various other parties have joined the saffron brigade, negotiating their position in the upcoming general elections.

Moreover, everyday hundreds of ticket aspirants queue up outside the party chief Amit Shah's office to submit their credentials at the BJP headquarters. Shah even met them personally for the first time, which is termed as 'communication programme' by the party leaders. They further feel that it will curb the defiance if someone does not get the ticket.

Besides, a party source claimed the final list will be based on the survey reports of its parent organisation RSS, government agencies and BJP's own ground-level survey. Further, various committees have been formed in respective states to shortlist state-wise probable candidates. The 17th Lok Sabha election is scheduled to be held in seven phases from April 11, 2019, to May 19, 2019. The counting is scheduled on May 23, 2019.