However, the age bar is just one of the new rules governing the recommendation of candidates. Joshi said the PEC had also directed the PCC not to recommend the names of Congress workers who have criminal records — even if they have not been convicted — due to their poor public image. “We have also decided not to recommend names of those who have lost the previous election by more than 15,000 votes or have not served the Congress party for the past three years,” Joshi said. He said such rules would ensure that tickets are given to deserving candidates and not to those who are recommended by senior leaders alone.

The new rules also stand to affect those politicians who are trying to push their progeny into the party, as the PEC has said sons and daughters of senior party workers will be denied a ticket unless they have been actively working for the Congress.

Joshi said, “We have also recommended that those candidates who have lost their constituencies due to delimitation should not be given a ticket for another constituency or even shift base to another district”.