BJP parliamentary body set to meet in New Delhi today; to decide on giving tickets to candidates above 75 yrs

New Delhi: The BJP parliamentary body, the party’s top decision making panel, will meet on Friday evening in New Delhi, to take stock of its preparedness ahead of the Lok Sabha election. Among issues that are likely to come up is whether the party should field candidates above the age of 75. The BJP is also set to decide on whether to give tickets to Rajya Sabha members and sitting legislators. The Election Commission is likely to announce the election dates in the next few days. “Before we distribute tickets, top leaders of the party are to meet and take a call on giving tickets to these three categories of candidates,” Hindustan Times quoted a top BJP leader as saying on condition of anonymity. [caption id=“attachment_4426045” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. PTI[/caption] Soon after coming to power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced a rule that leaders above 75 should not hold any administrative post in central or state governments. Several prominent BJP faces be ruled out if this is implemented, including 91-year-old LK Advani, 85-year-old Murli Manohar Joshi and 77-year-old Kalraj Mishra. The meeting, which will be attended by Modi and party president Amit Shah, comes at a time when the BJP’s ideological fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is also holding a meeting in Gwalior, which over 1,400 members from across the country are likely to attend, reported NDTV. Three of the BJP’s key Opposition parties, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party, have released the first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha election. The Congress on Thursday released an initial list of 15 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, fielding UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli and party president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi. The Samajwadi Party today released the names of six candidates who will contest from Uttar Pradesh, including former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav who will fight from the Mainpuri.  Ending speculations of an alliance with the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, on 2 March, announced the names of party candidates who will contest in six of seven seats in Delhi. With inputs from BJP