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Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Congress screening panel to meet on Friday, first list likely next week
The shortlisted names of probable candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections will be discussed in the Congress meeting, and then submitted to party’s central election committee, headed by AICC president Rahul Gandhi, for approval.
The candidate selection exercise of Congress for upcoming Lok Sabha election has entered the final stage with the screening committee meeting reportedly scheduled on March 8 at 15, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road — ‘Congress war-room’.
The shortlisted names of probable candidates will be discussed in the meeting, and then submitted to party’s central election committee, headed by AICC president Rahul Gandhi, for approval. The first list of Congress candidates is likely to be announced in the second week.
The Rajasthan and central party leadership has already held three day-long deliberations and feedback marathon meetings in Delhi last month with district presidents, in-charge ministers and party office bearers, sitting and ex-mlas and MPS, and then with chief minister Ashok Gehlot in Jaipur. Now, the CM at his level, is taking feedback from ministers, local leaders and workers.
The screening committee meet will be attended by All India Congress Committee general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, AICC state party in-charge Avinash Pande, secretaries Kazi Nizamuddin, Devendra Yadav, Vivek Bansal and Tarun Kumar, CM Ashok Gehlot and state party chief Sachin Pilot.
A senior leader, who is working closely with the development, said on conditions of anonymity that probable candidates have been shortlisted so far in the meetings, and now will be discussed in screening committee. The party has also decided to be more flexible with the parameters laid for the selection.
He said winnability of a candidate is the sole parameter for candidate selection but the party president has suggested avoiding sitting MLAS, MPS or relatives of leaders; those lost elections twice or thrice in a row; lost last election with huge margin; and a little space for exceptions. “In view of the changing political scenarios, the party think tank is now considering fielding seasoned and known faces instead of experimenting with new faces,” he said.
Congress, the leader added, is in comfortable position in Rajasthan assembly and now looking forward to the support of independents, of which majority contested as party rebels.
Sources claimed that with majority of seasoned and prominent party leaders elected to the assembly, the candidate selection is coming as a challenge for Congress.
Meanwhile, eyeing Target-25, the party is fixing responsibility of its frontal organisations — Seva Dal, Youth Congress, Women Congress and National Students’ Union of India — for the same and an action plan is being prepared. The frontal organisations will be given important campaign responsibility in every parliamentary constituency.
