Cong sub-committee to decide candidates for 24 tricky seats

After the central election committee (CEC) failed to reach a consensus in two meetings on 24 tricky Assembly segments in Haryana, the Congress on Wednesday constituted a sub-committee of senior leaders to assess and finalise candidates for these seats.

The Tribune has learnt that the party has tasked veterans AICC general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, former Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singhdeo and AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal to discuss these 24 seats and take the final call.

“The central election committee will not meet again. It has finalised most of the seats but there was no agreement on 24. The sub-committee will decide candidates for these seats,” said Congress sources.

Among these seats, most are the ones the Congress had lost in the 2019 Assembly elections and where former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as well as other Haryana Congress factions led by AICC general secretaries Kumari Selja and Randeep Surjewala had supporters and choices.

“The CEC was divided on these seats,” said a Congress leader, adding that the sub-committee would present the final candidates for these seats to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for approval.

On Thursday, Kharge and Rahul Gandhi would be in Maharashtra’s Nanded to offer condolences to the family of Vasantrao Chavan, the party MP who recently died after winning the Lok Sabha election from the segment.

Congress sources said that the decision to explore a pre-poll alliance with AAP in Haryana was driven by the urge to prevent the split in the Opposition’s votes and dent the BJP’s non-Jat support base by bringing the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit on board. “AAP is asking for 10 seats but is likely to get about four to five. A friendly contest on the rest of the seats could be mulled along the lines of the arrangement the Congress had with the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir. Talks are ongoing,” a Congress leader said.

Alliance with AAP to check vote split

• Among the 24 seats are those the Congress had lost in the 2019 Assembly elections and where former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as well as other Haryana Congress factions led by AICC general secretaries Kumari Selja and Randeep Surjewala had supporters and choices
• The decision to explore a pre-poll alliance with AAP is driven by the urge to prevent the split in the Opposition’s votes and dent the BJP’s non-Jat support base by bringing the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit on board