M A I N   N E W S

Sheila to head HP screening panel for Assembly poll
Rakesh Lohumi/TNS

Shimla, July 25
Working on Rahul Gandhi’s game plan, the Congress high command has constituted a screening committee under the chairpersonship of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for short-listing probable candidates from the state for the forthcoming Assembly poll.

Unlike the past, when candidates were declared after the announcement of the poll schedule, the exercise to select candidates has been started very early. Rahul Gandhi had, during his two-day visit to the state early this month, repeatedly stressed that the ticket should be decided well in advance to dispel confusion, which hampered the electoral prospects of the candidates. He had advised that at least seats on which there was no dispute and from where established leaders were to contest, the names of the candidates should be finalised early so that they could start campaigning in their constituencies.

The inclusion of a confidant of Gandhi, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Home, in the screening committee also makes it evident that he will call the shots in deciding the ticket. It will not be surprising if the youth brigade manages to grab a significant share in the ticket. Further, Dikshit is close to the Gandhi family and as a result, the role of other leaders in the exercise to select candidates will be curtailed. Besides Dikshit and Singh, party general secretary and in-charge of Himachal affairs Birender Singh, CLP leader Vidya Stokes and PCC chief Kaul Singh will be members of the panel.

In fact, the exercise for the selection of candidates was started soon after Rahul Gandhi’s visit with senior party leaders submitting their respective lists of candidates for various constituencies to Birender Singh. The list compiled by him will be placed before the screening committee along with a feedback regarding the winning prospects of all candidates obtained from various sources.

The high command has already deputed its observers and is taking assistance of central intelligence agencies and independent observers to get an authentic feedback on the probable candidates from each constituency. With a seasoned leader like Dikshit at the helm, senior leaders are hoping that the screening committee will do a fair job and the controversies created due to irrational composition of the campaign committee and appointment of non-entities as PCC secretaries will be left behind.