Other States - Madhya Pradesh   

Cong. panel to shortlist M.P. candidates

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI OCT. 27. The central election committee of the Congress today met at the residence of the party president, Sonia Gandhi, to shortlist the candidates for the coming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. No names have been finalised so far and it might take a couple of days before the first list is announced.

All issues such as caste equations and possible electoral adjustments with like-minded parties were discussed at the meeting. When asked whether an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was discussed, the All India Congress Committee in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, Ambika Soni, said the Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, had ruled out any arrangement. Neither was there any proposal from the BSP.

In the first round, the central committee is likely to finalise the candidates for the 100-odd `sure wickets'. While the Madhya Pradesh strongmen - Arjun Singh and Kamal Nath, besides the Chief Minister himself - are lobbying for their own candidates, there was a degree of consensus on the 106 "single candidate constituencies'' that was referred to the central committee by the screening committee.

The criteria for selection of candidates was apparently fixed at today's meeting with winnability being the prime concern. While those who had lost two successive elections are unlikely to be fielded again, those who had attracted adverse comments from the State's lok ayukta may also be kept out of the race.

Still, the central committee has a difficult job ahead accommodating the demands of various senior leaders. While Ms. Ambika Soni denied that differences between the senior State Congress leaders had delayed a decision, sources maintained that the differences between the Chief Minister, Mr. Arjun Singh and Mr. Kamal Nath had to be ironed out. Mr. Digvijay Singh, who has been camping in the Capital since Sunday, and met several senior leaders including Mr. Arjun Singh and Pranab Mukherjee, separately.

Differences over ticket distribution apart, there are some within the central leadership who differ with Mr. Digvijay Singh on his case for an early announcement of candidates to give the party a head start. They are of the view that early announcement would allow the opponents, particularly the Nationalist Congress Party, to cash in on the heartburn among those left out in the cold in the process of ticket distribution.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Cong. panel to shortlist M.P. candidates
• BSP leaders expelled

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu