The 16-member core committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met on Tuesday to take stock of preparations for the Assembly elections and the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The committee discussed ways to ensure smooth and successful visit of the PM during which he is slated to inaugurate a number of important projects on September 7. “We also discussed the induction of some senior leaders from the Opposition in the presence of the prime minister,” said a senior member of the committee.
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The core committee includes senior party leaders, headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, State unit in-charge Chandrakant Patil, Mumbai unit chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Ministers Vinod Tawde, Ashish Shelar, and Pankaja Munde. A committee member told The Hindu that discussions on seat-sharing with Shiv Sena, talks for which are slated to begin soon, also took place. “A workable sharing formula is already in place and has been finalised by the CM, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and party president Amit Shah. We have to now start talks on individual seats at the earliest,” said a member.
The code of conduct for the Assembly elections is likely to kick in by September 15. Committee members said talks over seat sharing would have to begin by then to zero in on the final list of candidates. The committee had in an earlier meeting resolved to not only work to secure a win for the BJP candidates but also for alliance partners
.