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Congress reviewing seats after BJP list

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

NEW DELHI: With the BJP having officially announced its first list of 53 candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections, the Congress is now reviewing its own list of 53 names that had been unofficially finalised at the Central Election Committee meeting on October 25.

Sources in the Congress said on Monday that attempts were being made to see that none of the candidates were weak, on paper at least. As such, a little while earlier there was talk of four to six names being reviewed, now some are expecting that number to be higher at around 10 to 12. Besides, the party also has to take the final call on the 17 seats that had been kept pending in the first place.

A senior Delhi Congress leader said the announcement of candidates was likely to take place in two phases. While one set of names, on which there are no second thoughts, is likely to be released in a few days, the remainder may be announced around the time the filing of nominations begins.

The party has now also empowered AICC general secretary Mohsina Kidwai, who was also chairperson of the Screening Committee constituted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi for the Delhi Assembly elections, to convene meetings along with AICC general secretary in charge of Delhi affairs Ashok Gehlot on finalising the tickets. The two would be holding consultations with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and DPCC president J.P. Agarwal in the matter.

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