RAIPUR: The Bharatiya Janata Party Central Election Committee (CEC) will declare the candidate for the Bhanupratappur by-poll in Chhattisgarh, said BJP state president and MP Arun Sao on Saturday.

He said the BJP had sent a four observer team consisting of Ramvichar Netam, Santosh Pandey, Ranjana Sahu and Shivratan Sharma for interaction with party leaders.

After interaction, the team had a list of 17 probable candidates. During the State Election Committee meeting held at state headquarters Kushabhau Thakre premises Dumartarai here, the list was narrowed to five candidates, Sao said to the media after the meeting.

He added that the final five names are being sent to the party's CEC which will give a nod and announce the candidate.

BJP National Co-Organization General Secretary Shiv Prakash and other state senior leaders were present at the meeting.

Chhattisgarh Congress has also finalized the list of candidates and stated that the name will be declared by the party High Command.

The election of Bhanupratappur (ST constituency) was necessitated after the death of Congress MLA and Deputy Speaker Manoj Singh Mandavi.

The notification for the by-poll has been issued. The last date for filing the nomination is November 17 and withdrawal is November 21. The polling is scheduled on December 5 and counting will follow on December 8.