Cong to declare its nominees early this time

New Delhi, August 28: Having given a “fresh look” to its state units by changing PCC presidents in as many as 16 states in the past year — with three more states about to get new PCC chiefs shortly — the Congress has set out to drastically revamp its candidate selection process by declaring them well in advance of LS and Assembly elections.

The ruling party is in the process of implementing the recommendations of the high profile think tank, Group to Look into Future Challenges, that has suggested that party candidates should be declared two months before the Assembly election and three months ahead of the Lok Sabha election, said Congress sources.

To this end, the Congress has decided to complete the process of identifying candidates for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi by mid-September, said sources. Screening committees to select candidates for these states have been constituted and the committee members have started visiting the respective states to get feedback about shortlisted candidates. “Within a week of the Election Commission issuing notification for the elections, we will declare our candidates,” said a senior party leader involved in the exercise.

Under the existing practice the ruling party usually declares its candidates right up to the last day of filing nomination papers. The last Assembly election in Karnataka witnessed a candidate being flown by helicopter from Bangalore to Hubli and then being driven to his constituency to replace the official party candidate minutes before the closing of the process of filing nomination papers.

The Congress’ latest move comes in the backdrop of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) already declaring many of its candidates for the Assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections, triggering a debate in the Congress about the virtues of announcing candidates well in advance. Those in favour of early declaration argue that it gives them enough time to work in the constituency and also to take care of rebellion within the party.

Meanwhile, the Congress High Command is in the process of appointing a new PCC chief in Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh. Siddaramaiah and RV Deshpande are front-runners for the coveted post in Karnataka while Meghalaya PCC chief OL Nongtudu is likely to be replaced, with Congress MLAs recently taking the unprecedented step of passing a resolution for his removal.

Starting in September 2007 when new PCC chiefs were appointed in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, the High Command has changed party presidents in 16 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, J&K, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu. In most of these states, Working Presidents were also appointed in an apparent move to balance power equations in the

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