Delay in announcing candidates list worries BJP aspirants in Telangana

BJP had received 6,003 applications for contesting elections from various constituencies and of them over 2,500 were shortlisted and exercise has begun to finalise the final candidates for the total 119 constituencies

Hyderabad: Following the Election Commission of India announcing the poll schedule on Monday, BJP leaders in Telangana who were aspiring for party tickets are a worried lot as the party leadership has so far not completed the process of selecting candidates.

The BJP is likely to announce the first list of 38 candidates on October 15 or 16 and the remaining seats in the two phases. The party had received 6,003 applications for contesting elections from various constituencies and of them over 2,500 were shortlisted and exercise has begun to finalise the final candidates for the total 119 constituencies.

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The aspirants argue that the party has lost precious time due to infighting and if the party leadership takes more time to announce the candidates, it will be difficult for them to reach out to their voters. “The candidates will have very less time to campaign. In fact after final nominations, the candidates will have less than 15 days to campaign. We expect the party leadership to announce the list of candidates at the earliest,” a BJP leader said.

Going by the political situation prevailing in the State and the lack of coordination among senior leaders of the State BJP unit, there is very less chance for the saffron party to perform well in the elections. The BJP has a limited presence in Telangana and the party was able to win only five of the 119 seats in the State during the 2014 elections and just one seat in 2018 , all of them in Hyderabad. This time too, it is expected to have a similar tally.