Patna, Mar 14 (IANS): The BJP on Thursday formed a three-member committee to select candidates for the 17 seats it is contesting in Bihar in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The election committee includes state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nityanand Rai, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and state Agriculture Minister Prem Kumar.

The committee, formed at a meeting held at the party headquarters, has been told not to deny party tickets to any Union Minister from Bihar, BJP sources said.

Senior BJP leader and Bihar Minister Nand Kishore Yadav told the media that the list of selected candidates will be sent to the BJP Central Election Committee for final approval.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will announce names of candidates for all the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state before March 21.

The BJP is contesting 17 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.

According to the seat-sharing formula decided by the alliance, the BJP and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) will contest 17 seats each, while the remaining six seats will go to the Ram Vilas Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).