The BJP is expected to decide in the next three days where Narendra Modi, its prime ministerial candidate, will contest the general elections from.
There is speculation that the BJP could field Mr Modi from a seat each in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Varanasi in UP is being discussed and party sources hinted that he may choose to also contest from either Ahmedabad East or Vadodra in Gujarat, his home state .
Sources said the BJP plans to contest 450 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats to which elections will be held; it has already announced 106 candidates. The party's 19-member central election committee, which has on it top leaders like Mr Modi, Rajnath Singh and LK Advani, will meet tomorrow and is expected to finalise candidates for the remaining 344 seats.
"The CEC will on March 13 first take up the states and seats where there is unanimity on candidates. These are 110 odd seats. Names for the seats which have a contest may be taken by the CEC on March 15. And then may be a last meeting after Holi (on Monday, March 17), " a party source told NDTV.
The buzz over Mr Modi contesting from Varanasi has enthused workers and split the top leadership. A large section of the BJP in UP believes that if Mr Modi contests from Varanasi, it will draw voters in the crucial state and in adjoining Bihar.
But that plan faces stiff challenge from senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who won the Varanasi seat in 2009.
If Mr Joshi has to make way Mr Modi in Varanasi, he may have to settle for contesting from Kanpur, where union minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal of the Congress has won the last three times.
The BJP committee is also expected to take a call on the proposal to shift BJP president Rajnath Singh from Ghaziabad to contest from Lucknow, in stead of former UP minister Lalji Tandon.
Mr Tandon has said he is willing to vacate the seat only for Mr Modi. Lucknow has been represented in the past by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and is considered a BJP stronghold
There is speculation that the BJP could field Mr Modi from a seat each in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Varanasi in UP is being discussed and party sources hinted that he may choose to also contest from either Ahmedabad East or Vadodra in Gujarat, his home state .
Sources said the BJP plans to contest 450 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats to which elections will be held; it has already announced 106 candidates. The party's 19-member central election committee, which has on it top leaders like Mr Modi, Rajnath Singh and LK Advani, will meet tomorrow and is expected to finalise candidates for the remaining 344 seats.
"The CEC will on March 13 first take up the states and seats where there is unanimity on candidates. These are 110 odd seats. Names for the seats which have a contest may be taken by the CEC on March 15. And then may be a last meeting after Holi (on Monday, March 17), " a party source told NDTV.
The buzz over Mr Modi contesting from Varanasi has enthused workers and split the top leadership. A large section of the BJP in UP believes that if Mr Modi contests from Varanasi, it will draw voters in the crucial state and in adjoining Bihar.
But that plan faces stiff challenge from senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who won the Varanasi seat in 2009.
If Mr Joshi has to make way Mr Modi in Varanasi, he may have to settle for contesting from Kanpur, where union minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal of the Congress has won the last three times.
The BJP committee is also expected to take a call on the proposal to shift BJP president Rajnath Singh from Ghaziabad to contest from Lucknow, in stead of former UP minister Lalji Tandon.
Mr Tandon has said he is willing to vacate the seat only for Mr Modi. Lucknow has been represented in the past by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and is considered a BJP stronghold
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