Congress screening panel set to finalise poll list

The state Congress may not have been able to cut short the democratic process of finalising its poll tickets,but it does not want to be too late either.

The state Congress may not have been able to cut short the democratic process of finalising its poll tickets,but it does not want to be too late either. The 11-member election committee headed by president Captain Amarinder Singh and five-member screening committee led by Union Minister C P Joshi,continued the process of seeking recommendations of the partys 12 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab,besides five MPs who had lost the Lok Sabha polls,till late hours on Thursday.

The list is likely to be moved to the Central Election Committee headed by the AICC president Sonia Gandhi by Friday evening. The screening committee gave an hour each of the MPs. The names from Mahila Congress and Youth Congress too are being decided. Though we will try to conclude the meeting today,even if it goes till midnight,but it may take us another day. Once we have drawn up the list,it will be sent to the Central Election Committee, Amarinder said.

On the possibility of the first list being out this week,Amarinder said they are trying to in bring one single list. We were earlier hoping to release the list by December end,but it may go on to the next week, he added.

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With various state Congress factions vying for seats for their kin,supporters and loyalists in that order the task of finalising candidates is proving to be a long haul. Almost all senior leaders and MPs are lobbying for seats for their kin. Amarinder,who had asked the members of the election committee to submit their recommendations in in a sealed envelope to the office of party in-charge Thakur Gulchain Singh Charak by December 27,said only a few MPs had put down their suggestions in writing.

It would have been easier had all the MPs done so. We would have been able to fast track the process of deliberations, said Amarinder,who had mooted that the sealed recommendations received by Charaks office will be forwarded directly to the scrutiny committee.

But a MP,on condition on anonymity,stated the risk behind it. They have taken every MPs opinion on all seats. Several seats have many contenders. If we propose one name and document it through writing and it is leaked,we will end up making many enemies. We are all part of one party and every person matters. So,some of us thought it safer to present our views in person, he said.

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Congress screening panel set to finalise poll list

The state Congress may not have been able to cut short the democratic process of finalising its poll tickets,but it does not want to be too late either.

The state Congress may not have been able to cut short the democratic process of finalising its poll tickets,but it does not want to be too late either.