india

Updated: Sep 25, 2019 11:59 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to release its first list of candidates for the Maharashtra and Haryana assembly election in the auspicious period of Navratra.

The election commission on Saturday announced the schedule for the assembly election in these two states, fixing October 4 as the last date to receive nomination. Polling for 288 seats of Maharashtra and 90 seats of Haryana will take place on October 21, while results will be out on October 24.

“The meeting of the central election committee of the BJP is expected after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from his US visit,” a BJP leader said. The PM is expected to be back in India by October 28 evening.

The auspicious period of Navratra is beginning from October 29, and the BJP’s election committee will meet only during this period. The fortnight preceding Navratra festivals are considered as inauspicious in Hindu tradition and any new beginning is avoided during this period.

“The screening of candidates for both the states is almost complete, and we are now waiting for the party high command to call the meeting of the central election committee to finalise the candidate list,” a BJP leader from Haryana said.

“Even in Maharashtra, we are ready with panel of candidates for seats that we intend to contest. We hope to announce these candidates soon,” another BJP leader from Maharashtra said.

The BJP won Maharashtra and Haryana for the first time in 2014. It got a majority in Haryana and emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra.

The BJP did not have an alliance with Shiv Sena in the last assembly election and the two parties are discussing a seat-sharing formula for the October polls. The ruling party will go it alone in Haryana.