New Delhi, May 31 (IANS) A high-level meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s top leadership, including Union Ministers and party president Nitin Nabin, will take place at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence, this evening.

The meeting, to be held at 5.30 PM is expected to focus on various issues including Rajya Sabha polls and the impending elections to several Legislative Councils.

Party’s sources said that the key agenda of the high-level meeting is to discuss and finalise the names of candidates for upcoming Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council elections.

Senior Union ministers including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, JP Nadda, party president Nitin Nabin and party’s top brass are set to gather at PM Modi’s residence, where they will deliberate and discuss names of party nominees while also ‘think over’ re-fielding any retiring member in the Upper House.

The party top brass is also expected to deliberate upon and strategize on securing an advantage over the Opposition in the high-stakes Rajya Sabha polls, particularly in light of the recent defeat of Women’s reservation bill, marking the first big setback for Modi government in over decade-long governance.

Notably, the elections for 24 Rajya Sabha seats spread across 10 states are set to take place on June 18, as announced by the Election Commission.

The vacancies arose due to the retirement of sitting lawmakers from the Upper House, between June 21 and July 19, the poll body said.

June 8 is the last date of filing nominations for RS elections, pertaining to various states including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Jharkhand and some in the North-East including Meghalaya and Mizoram.

The BJP core group will also discuss possible nominations for the Legislative Council elections, spanning across Karnataka, Bihar and Maharashtra.

The biennial election for 16 seats of Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) is set to be held on June 18. In Karnataka, seven MLC seats will be up for grabs after expiry of terms of the incumbent members while in Bihar, the MLC seat became vacant after resignation of former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

Top sources also said that the discussion will be held on strengthening the organisation, mobilising workers and supporters at the grassroots level and to propagate the landmarks and milestones of Modi government, achieved in past twelve years.

Modi government recently completed twelve years in power and the party brass hopes to inform, intimate and impress upon the electorate about the India growth story that unfolded in all these years under PM Modi’s leadership.

Discussions are also likely on giving final touches to new BJP president Nitin Nabin’s team that will steer the party for crucial elections in coming years including high-voltage battle in Uttar Pradesh and subsequently the grand face-off in 2029. Notably, the BJP president announced new party chiefs in four states recently – namely Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Tripura, entrusting them with the responsibility of leading the party in respective provinces.

–IANS

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