BJP Likely To Announce Names Of 100 LS Candidates On Feb 29, PM Modi, Amit Shah May Be On It

The BJP is expected to release the names of 100 candidates on Thursday, February 29.

Ahead of the anticipated announcement of the Lok Sabha polls by the Election Commission next month, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to reveal the names of 100 candidates on February 29 (Thursday), including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, sources told ABP News on Saturday.

Sources say that the Central Election Committee of the BJP is likely to convene on February 29, with the release of the initial candidate list expected thereafter. The first list holds significance as the ruling party aims to secure 370 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, with an overarching target of 400 seats for the NDA.

Prime Minister Modi, representing Varanasi, has won the constituency twice, with a substantial margin of 3.37 lakh votes in 2014, further increasing to 4.8 lakh in 2019. Meanwhile, Amit Shah contested and won the Gandhinagar seat in 2019, previously held by BJP stalwart LK Advani.

In a recent address at the party's national convention, the Prime Minister urged BJP leaders and workers to diligently pursue the goal of winning 370 seats, stating that the next 100 days would be pivotal.

"In the next 100 days, we all have to reach out to every new voter, every beneficiary, every community. We have to win everyone's trust. To take the NDA to 400, BJP will have to cross the mark of 370 (seats)," PM Modi said.

Maintaining that he seeks a third term not for personal benefits but to continue serving the nation, he said, "I am working for 'rashtraniti', not 'rajneeti'". 

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is expected to announce the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections after March 13, according to sources quoted by India Today on Friday. EC teams are currently assessing the election preparedness of various states and are likely to conclude the process by March 13.

Reports indicate that EC teams will visit states like West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, among others, in the coming weeks. A visit to Jammu and Kashmir is reportedly scheduled for March 13.

The Election Commission stated that nearly 97 crore Indians will be eligible to vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, marking a 6% increase in registered voters compared to 2019. The electoral rolls for all States/UTs were published in early February after an intensive Special Summary Revision 2024.