BJP readies for national council meet Saturday

Preparations are on to host 2,300 delegates from across the country who will be arriving in Delhi Saturday for the BJP's national council meet, officials said Friday.

The one-day event will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in south Delhi to ratify the election of Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) new president Amit Shah, a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The announcement of Shah taking over the reigns was made July 9 after his predecessor Rajnath Singh was appointed the home minister.

According to party leader and MP Ramesh Bidhuri, who is looking after the preparations, 2,300 delegates would be hosted in hotels, guest houses and MP flats in the capital.

"We've booked hotels in Karol Bagh and Pahar Ganj in addition to the flats of party leaders including MPs to host the guests," Bidhuri told IANS.

The national council includes parliamentarians, chief ministers and legislators of all states, as well as national and state party office bearers.

Around 400 cars, all belonging to party leaders and workers, will be pressed into service to ferry the delegates, Bidhuri said.

"We won't be hiring any taxis," he said.