New Delhi: Former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh might contest the upcoming Lok Sabha Election 2024 on a BJP ticket from Punjab's Jalandhar parliamentary constituency, Republic TV sources said. The ace cricketer is among BJP's top 3 choices from  Jalandhar. 

On the other hand, the party may field Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh from the Asansol constituency of Bengal. Meanwhile, Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late BJP leader and former Minister of External Affairs (MEA) minister Sushma Swaraj, is likely to contest the  Lok Sabha elections 2024 on the BJP ticket from one of the Delhi seats. 

For the unversed, the BJP has finalised 100 Lok Sabha candidates after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a midnight meeting at his residence on Thursday. The first list is expected to be announced by evening or tomorrow. 

The list is expected to prioritise high-profile candidates like Prime Minister Modi himself contesting from Varanasi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow.

Additionally, it will also include constituencies where the party suffered narrow defeats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, aiming to strengthen its position in these ‘weak’ seats.

The BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) met last night as its members, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, held deliberations to finalise the first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls expected to be held in April-May. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda and Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh were among those who attended the meeting as the ruling party looks to name its candidates for a sizeable number of the 543 Lok Sabha seats before the Election Commission (EC) announces the poll schedule.

Leaders from various states, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Gujarat's Bhupendra Patel, Madhya Pradesh's Mohan Yadav, Chhattisgarh's Vishnu Deo Sai, Uttarakhand's Pushkar Singh Dhami and Goa's Pramod Sawant, were among those who arrived at the BJP headquarters for the meeting.

State leaders attend the CEC meeting when candidates for constituencies falling in their respective states are discussed.

A large number of those seats that the BJP has targeted for improving its prospects after unsuccessfully contesting those in 2019 may figure in the initial lists of candidates, following the template of recent Assembly polls, sources said.

Many Union ministers, including Bhupender Yadav, Dharmendra Pradhan and Mansukh Mandaviya, are likely to be fielded in the general election, after the party chose not to give them another Rajya Sabha term during the recent biennial polls to the Upper House of Parliament.

The BJP's poll candidate lists have often been as significant for those missing out as for the new faces given a chance and all eyes will be on whether it drops some well-known names or does some fresh experiment in selecting its nominees.

The party's brain trust, including Shah and Nadda, has held a series of meetings with its leaders from states to draw the lists of probables, before the CEC takes a final call.