KARNATAKA: On Monday, April 10, 2023, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to release the first list ahead of the Karnataka Assembly election.

The BJP Central Election Committee (CEC) met yesterday for more than three hours to decide on the party's candidates for the Karnataka assembly elections.

Senior party leaders, including the state's chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, accompanied the prime minister, union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda, and other members of the CEC as they discussed potential candidates.

At the meeting yesterday, Karnataka CM Bommai said that PM Modi had given certain "directions" and the names of the candidates would be revealed either on Monday or Tuesday. Moreover, CM Bommai declared that he will run for office from the Shiggaon district. The BJP has set a goal of capturing at least 150 of the 224 seats in order to regain power in the southern state.

The BJP won 104 seats in the 2018 Assembly elections, making it the largest single party elected, followed by the Congress with 80 seats and the JD(S) with 37. The 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly will be elected on May 10, and the results of the election will be announced on May 13.

For the Karnataka elections, the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular parties have so far announced 166 and 93 candidates, respectively. With its original list, which included 124 candidates, Congress also named 42 additional candidates.

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