BJP's Advance Prep On 5 Year-End State Polls, PM To Chair Key Meet Today

Leaving no stone unturned in preparations for the Assembly polls due later this year, the BJP has called a meeting of its central election committee at its Delhi headquarters this evening.

The meeting will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president JP Nadda and other members of the central election panel.

The central election committee is the BJP's top decision-making body for finalising candidates and laying down poll strategies. The panel rarely meets before elections are announced. So, this meeting indicates that the BJP is in no mood to take chances for these polls, especially after its debacle in the Karnataka election earlier this year.

The BJP faces a tall challenge in the Assembly polls later this year. The five states going to polls are Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. Out of these, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana are Opposition-ruled states and the BJP has been pushing hard for victory this time.

In Mizoram, the ruling party MNF voted against ally BJP in the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha this month. The party had criticised BJP's handling of the Manipur situation, pointing to differences in the alliance. Madhya Pradesh, currently ruled by the BJP, also appears to be headed for a close fight.

These Assembly polls are also significant because they come months ahead of the general election next year and will set the tempo for the big fight between an incumbent BJP and joint Opposition bloc INDIA.

According to BJP sources, the meeting will focus on seats where the BJP is weak. The plan, the sources said, is to identify candidates in these seats well in advance so that they get enough time to prepare.

The meeting, the sources said, will also discuss the key poll issues in these states and how to counter the Congress's promises, among other poll-related matters.