NEW DELHI, Oct 27 — The central election authority (CEA) of the Congress today extended the last date of nomination by another day till October 29 due to non-receipt of delegates’ list from several states and union territories.

“The last date for nominations for the party poll is being extended by another day till October 29 as delegates’ lists are still awaited from several states and union territories,” the CEA chairman, Mr Ram Niwas Mirdha, told mediapersons here.

Accordingly, the date of scrutiny of nominations will be October 30 and the last date of withdrawals November 5 instead of November 4, he said.

Mrs Gandhi is expected to file her papers tomorrow for the party’s top post. But her nomination can be filed only when the CEA receives the delegates’ list from Uttar Pradesh.

About the declaration of results for the posts where there is only one nomination, Mr Mirdha said in those cases the results would be announced on the last date of withdrawal of nominations.

So far, PCC delegates lists from 16 states have reached the CEA. These include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

While many Congressmen were irked with the delay in the receipt and publication of delegates’ lists, Mr Jitendra Prasada, senior Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh, alone came into the open and criticised the delay.

In a three-paged letter to the chairman of the CEA, Mr Prasada said Non-publication of delegates’ list meant exclusion of a large number of voters as well as potential candidates from the electoral process.

“It would appear that the delay is largely because of manipulation and pressure tactics which are time consuming,” Mr Prasada, who is also a CWC member said.

He said the Congress constitution was amended and a central election authority established with the ostensible purpose of ensuring free and fair organisational elections to revitalise the Congress.

“In the light of what has happened and the manner in which the voters list has been manipulated and its publication delayed till now, Congress workers will, no doubt, come to their own conclusion whether the elections are fair and represent the wishes and the will of the grassroots workers,” he said, adding that the argument that this was how elections were held in the past could be taken as an alibi for what was happening now.

“In view of the fact that the voters list is not yet ready, that elections have not been held in several states, that the delegates have been “distributed” amongst influential leaders, especially with a view to ensuring that no one is able even to file his or her nomination paper in defiance of a small coterie, I leave it to you and to the millions of Congress workers to decide about the nature and fairness of these polls,” he said in his letter to Mr Mirdha.

When contacted, Mr Prasada remained non-committal on whether he would contest against Mrs Gandhi for the Congress President’s post.

“I have not got the delegates’ list so far. Only when I get the list I will be in a position to comment,” he said.

Meanwhile, senior party leader and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Mr P.M. Sayeed, said Mrs Gandhi would be unanimously re-elected Congress President.

Talking to mediapersons regarding a three-day political convention “mahasangamam” to be organised by him at Lakshadweep from November 2, Mr Sayeed said Mrs Gandhi would be unanimously elected but declined to elaborate.

The statement of Mr Sayeed assumes significance as there is speculation that Mr Prasada could contest for the top party post.

About “mahasangamam”, Mr Sayeed said the conference would set a pace of change on the future political scenario of the country.

The three-day conclave to be held in Amini would be attended by Congress Chief Ministers and other top leaders of the party and would take stock of the current political situation.

Congress Chief Ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh (Maharashtra), Digvijay Singh (Madhya Pradesh), S.M. Krishna (Karnataka), S.C. Jamir (Nagaland), Mukut Mithi (Arunachal Pradesh), Shiela Dikshit (Delhi) and P. Shanmugham (Pondhicherry) had confirmed their participation, Mr Sayeed said.