BJP finalises 52 candidates for U'khand polls

New Delhi, Jan 19: The Central Election Committee of the BJP today cleared the names of 52 candidates, including seven women, for the February 21 Uttrakhand Assembly election.

The Committee which met for three hours under the chairmanship of Party President Rajnath Singh, would meet again on January 23 to finalise the candidature for the remaining seats of the 70-member state Assembly.

The list is, however, expected to be released around 1500 hours.

BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said the meeting was attended by all CEC members, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and former party President M Venkaiah Naidu.

He said they would meet again in the evening to finalise the nominees for Punjab where the party was contesting for 23 of the 117 assembly seats.

UNI