The Congress screening committee headed by Ajay Maken shortlisted party candidates for the Rajasthan assembly elections at a meeting in New Delhi on Monday.
Sources said the five-member committee, which had chief minister Ashok Gehlot as a member, shortlisted single-name panels for nearly a quarter of the 200 seats in the state. For another quarter of the seats, the committee prepared two-name panels on day one. Candidates for the remaining seats would be shortlisted on Tuesday.
The announcement of the selected candidates, however, is unlikely before October 23 when party vice-president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address two public rallies in Alwar and Churu districts. Names shortlisted by the screening committee would have to be approved by the chief election committee headed by Sonia Gandhi.
The screening committee met in Delhi last week also to shortlist for the candidate selection exercise. Senior party leaders, including union ministers and parliamentarians from the state, were called for their suggestions on the selections in the earlier meetings.
This time, however, the committee is zeroing on the potential candidates in a closed-door meeting with its five members only. The committee is going ahead on the basis of inputs gathered so far through different sources, including independent surveys by the party high command as well as the state leadership. Besides Maken and Gehlot, the screening committee includes Odisha MP R C Khuntia, AICC general secretary in-charge of the state Gurudas Kamat and Congress state president Chandrabhan.
src: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Congress-screening-committee-shortlists-names-of-candidates/articleshow/24167798.cms