The BJP’s top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah, met here on Wednesday evening to finalise candidates for the two-phase Gujarat assembly elections in December.

Besides the Central Election Committee (CEC) members, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and state BJP chief Jitu Vaghani attended the meeting.

Shah welcomed Modi after he arrived at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters around 7 p.m.

The CEC, the BJP’s top election body, will finalise the candidates after discussing the list of probables sent by the state party unit.

The Gujarat elections will be held on December 9 and 14. The first phase will cover 89 constituencies in 19 districts and the second phase 93 seats in 14 districts.

The filing of nominations for the polls began on November 14.

Counting of votes will be taken up along with that of Himachal Pradesh on December 18.