Karnataka Election 2023: BJP chief holds key meeting with party leaders on probable candidates

Smaller parties in Karnataka such as the Karnataka Rashtra Samithi, the Aam Aadmi Party, the All India Majlis-Ittehadul Muslimeen and the Social Democratic Party of India too have announced their first and second lists.

A day before finalising candidates for the upcoming Karnataka assembly polls, BJP president JP Nadda on Saturday (April 8) held discussions with key state leaders, including Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and BS Yediyurappa, on probable names.

The BJP's parliamentary board will meet on Sunday to finalise candidates for the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka assembly.

Before the discussions started, Chief Minister Bommai said, "We will discuss about all probable candidates. We have district and constituency wise details and recent survey outcomes. Keeping all that in mind, we will have a detailed discussion with national leaders."

The BJP, that is aiming to come back to power again in the southern state, has set a target of winning at least 150 of the 224 seats.

The list of candidates will be finalised at the parliamentary board meeting scheduled at 5pm on Sunday, he said. Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Mansukh Mandaviya, who are the BJP's in-charge for the assembly elections in the state, as well as senior party leader Arun Singh attended the meeting at Nadda's residence.

Besides Bommai and former Karnataka chief minister Yediyurappa, BJP national secretary CT Ravi and state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel were also present in the meeting. The state's principal opposition party, Congress, and the JD(S) have announced their initial lists of candidates for the polls.

Smaller parties in Karnataka such as the Karnataka Rashtra Samithi, the Aam Aadmi Party, the All India Majlis-Ittehadul Muslimeen and the Social Democratic Party of India too have announced their first and second lists.