With eye on Gujarat polls, state BJP meet to begin brainstorming on final candidate list

Gandhinagar: With an eye on the upcoming Gujarat polls, state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set begin its three-day meet on Friday. The party honchos are likely to brainstorm on the final list of candidates who'll be offered tickets to contest the 2017 assembly elections.

The BJP is likely to announce the first list of candidates immediately after the meeting, said sources. 

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, state party head Jitu Vaghani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, former CM Anandiben Patel and state in-charge Bhupender Yadav will attend the board meeting. Party chief Amit Shah could also be a part of the meet. 

The board is likely to meet at Rupani's official bungalow in Gandhinagar. 

Meanwhile, the Congress election committee will meet on Saturday morning to finalised the list of Gujrat candidates. State president Bharatsinh Solanki, state party in-charge and former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and few others met the Congress high command in Delhi on Thursday. 

The party likely to announce first candidate list on November 15, said sources.

The two-phase Gujarat Assembly elections will be held on December 9 and 14. The election results will be declared on December 18, the counting to be held along with that of hill state Himachal Pradesh, which went to poll on November 9.

The term of 182-member Gujarat assembly is due to end on January 22, 2018.