New Delhi, October 20: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced the first list of candidates for the upcoming Chhattisgarh assembly elections 2018. The list names 77 nominees of the party, including most of the party's incumbent 49 legislators in the state.

BJP Central Election Committee chief JP Nadda said the list was finalised by the party high command based on the performance of the sitting MLAs, along with worthy aspirants who have strove to strengthen the party's base in the state for the last 5 years. "Adequate representation has been given to representatives of all groups and communities," he said. Congress Releases 1st List of 12 Candidates for Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections 2018, Repeats 7 of 8 Legislators.

Notably, the BJP is the ruling party in Chhattisgarh since 2003. The upcoming polls are considered to be the most stringent contest as Chief Minister Raman Singh is facing an anti-incumbency of 15 years.

Check First List of 77 Candidates Named by the BJP For Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections 2018

The BJP list comes a couple of days after the Congress issued its first list of 12 candidates for Chhattisgarh assembly polls. The party repeated the names of 7 of its 39 incumbent MLAs in the first list.

Meanwhile, the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh of former CM Ajit Jogi has named 45 candidates so far.

All parties and independent aspirants will have to file the nominations by October 23 -- which is the last date set by the Election Commission. The nominations will be scrutinised on October 26. The two-phased polls will be held on November 12 and November 20. The results would be declared on December 11.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 20, 2018 09:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).