NEW DELHI: In the BJP parliamentary body, the party's top decision-making body, which met on Friday to take stock of its Lok Sabha election preparedness and campaign, it was revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest 2019 election from Varanasi. Currently, Narendra Modi is MP from Varanasi constituency where he had won with 5,81,022 votes in 2014.

In the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Modi had campaigned in Varanasi where BJP and allies managed to win all eight assembly constituencies of Varanasi.

There has been speculation that the party is considering introducing certain criteria, including age bar, for candidates, but there has been no official word on this. A party leader said "winability" will be the key consideration in selecting candidates.

Following the meeting, BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav announced a tie-up with All Jharkhand Students Union in Jharkhand. The AJSU is already a partner in the BJP-led government in the state. Yadav said the BJP will contest 13 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state and the AJSU one.

The Election Commission is likely to announce the election dates in the next few days.

More details awaited.