) Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and his predecessor BS Yediyurappa are attending a BJP core group meeting to choose candidates for the upcoming May 10 assembly election in Karnataka here on Saturday.
The official list will be finalised by the party’s parliamentary board on April 9.
Bommai and Yediyurappa, last evening, had arrived in New Delhi to attend the final sessions to final couple of meetings to choose BJP candidates.
A meeting in this regard also was held at BJP National President JP Nadda’s residence on Friday night.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat Election In-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, Co-in-charge Mansukh Mandavia, and Gujarat In-charge General Secretary Arun Singh were also present in the meeting to discuss the potential list of candidates.
Speaking to reporters here, Bommai said the central committee of the BJP in Karnataka has chosen three candidates for each assembly seat.
“These candidates will be submitted to the Central Election Committee. The top leadership of the party will then deliberate upon it before finalising the nominees,” he said.
The Congress has already released names of 166 candidates, while JDS has released names of 93 candidates who would contest elections. Many BJP turncoats have been fielded by the Congress.
The Congress is yet to release the remaining names of 58 candidates. In its first list of candidates, the party released names of 124 candidates including Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar from Varuna and Kanakapura constituencies, respectively.
In the 2018 assembly election, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party by winning 104 seats followed by Congress with 80 seats, and JDS with 37 seats.
