Year-end poll preps: Modi to chair BJP CEC meeting today
What's the story
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s national president JP Nadda will attend a meeting of the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) on Wednesday.
The meeting may reportedly see some important decisions taken regarding Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which will go to polls by the end of this year, IANS reported.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The CEC is the BJP's top decision-making body for finalizing the candidates to be fielded and devising poll strategies.
The timing of the meeting is unusual as the panel typically meets after the election schedule is announced.
Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Telangana will also hold assembly elections later this year, which will set the stage for next year's Lok Sabha elections.
Meeting
CM Chouhan, VD Sharma, Arun Sao expected to attend
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state BJP chief VD Sharma, and Chhattisgarh BJP chief Arun Sao will attend the meeting along with all the 15 CEC members.
Reportedly, senior BJP leader Om Mathur has been appointed as the election in charge of Chhattisgarh, while Union minister Bhupendra Yadav has been made the poll in charge of Madhya Pradesh.
MP CG
BJP struggling in Chhattisgarh
The BJP is facing a leadership crisis in Chhattisgarh to take on CM Bhupesh Baghel, a Congress stalwart who ended the party's 15-year rule in the state in the 2018 Assembly election.
The party is also dealing with factionalism in Madhya Pradesh, where it came to power after the elected Congress government was toppled amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Mizoram
MNF-BJP ties weakened due to Manipur violence
Although Mizoram's ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) is a BJP ally, it voted against the Centre in the recent no-confidence motion.
The MNF has criticized the BJP's handling of the ethnic strife in Manipur, which has been ongoing for more than 100 days.
Mizoram CM and MNF chief Zoramthanga said their support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is only issue-based.
RJ TS
BJP fighting Congress in Rajasthan, BRS in Telangana
The BJP's poll preparations come in advance after it lost Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka to the Congress in December 2022 and May 2023, respectively.
The Congress is also incumbent in Rajasthan, while the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has been in power in Telangana since the state's formation in 2014.
However, the Rajasthan Congress remained engaged in infighting, which could dramatize the electoral battle.