BJP CEC meets to finalise candidates for Maharashtra, Haryana polls, likely to announce seat-sharing with Shiv Sena soon

New Delhi: The Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a meeting on Sunday to finalise its candidates for the Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, with sources indicating that the party’s seat-sharing arrangement with the Shiv Sena in the western state will be announced in a day or two. [caption id=“attachment_7423491” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The BJP CEC met to finalise candidates. ANI[/caption] The party’s top brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, its chief Amit Shah and working president J P Nadda, deliberated for several hours with other CEC members and leaders from the two states to finalise names of candidates. Sources said Modi was felicitated for his “successful” trip to the US. The prime minister returned to Delhi on Saturday night from his trip to the US where he addressed the UN General Assembly and several events, including the “Howdy Modi!” diaspora gathering. Asked about the delay in announcement on allocation of seats in Maharashtra with the Sena and some smaller allies, a party leader said the announcement may be made in a day or two. The Shiv Sena may field candidates for around 120-125 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, he said. Both Maharashtra and Haryana are going to polls on 21 October. The last day for filing nomination is 4 October . Manohar Lal Khattar and Devendra Fadnavis, the chief ministers of Haryana and Maharashtra respectively, remain the face of the BJP in the polls with the party confident of retaining power riding on the back of Modi’s popularity, “public support” to the Centre’s decision to abrogate special status to Jammu and Kashmir and the achievements of its state governments. In Haryana, former Indian Hockey team captain Sandeep Singh, Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and woman grappler Babita Phogat, who recently joined the BJP, are likely to be fielded by the party in the elections, sources said. Khattar is expected to contest from Karnal, a seat from where he had won in 2014.