New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may announce the final list of candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly Elections by the second week of November, sources said.
The list will be finalised in Delhi after the Central Election Committee's meeting, as it is the Standard Operating Procedure while selecting candidates to contest elections.
Meanwhile, from October 21 the saffron party had a six- day rigorous brainstorming session on names of probable candidates. The party had also sent observers to every district in Gujarat to interview the candidates and shortlist three candidates each for the 182 assembly seats in the presence of party's national president Amit Shah.
Shah is currently in another poll-bound state of Himachal Pradesh and will hold meetings with state leadership. He will again visit his home turf on November 4.
As the party seeks its fifth term in the power of the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah, the first preference in a candidate would be "win ability", sources said. A party veteran also claimed that the selection process is most "democratic" and reportedly, about 30 to 40 seats from a certain region of the state were discussed each day. Candidates have been shortlisted taking into account caste, age and people's perception.
The Assembly polls will be held in Gujarat on December 9 and 14, and votes will be counted on December 18 along with Himachal Pradesh. Sources also said that the last dates of filing nominations for the candidate for two phased polls are November 21 and 27.