Cong central panel may meet on March 22

The screening committee (of Rajasthan

Congress) has submitted single names on 18 seats and on the rest seven seats, a panel of two names has been made with option of fielding MLAS; the final decision will be taken by party president Rahul Gandhi.

SENIOR CONGRESS LEADER, Associated with candidate selection

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Congress screening committee on Monday submitted the list of probable candidates for Lok Sabha polls to the central election committee (CEC), headed by AICC president Rahul Gandhi, for approval, said a senior party member closely involved in the selection process.

The CEC is likely to meet on March 22. Rajasthan will vote on April 29 and May 6 to elect 25 MPS.

The senior member said the screening committee finalised names for all 25 LS seats on Sun- day. “The committee has submitted single names on 18 seats and on the rest seven seats a panel of two names has been made with option of fielding MLAS; the final decision will be taken by Gandhi,” he said.

“Single names have been shortlisted on all 25 LS seats but the list has two names for some seats, where the MLAS are seeking ticket; f o r e x a mpl e , Harish Choudhary is seeking to contest from Barmer. Two names have also been recommended for seats where the committee feels an MLA can be a better option than fielding a new face.”

The senior member said Gandhi will decide on allowing MLAS to contest.

The party is considering repeating candidates fielded in 2014 LS polls, such as Jitendra Singh from Alwar; Namonarain Meena (Tonk-sawai Madhopur); Jyoti Mirdha (Nagaur); Raghuveer Meena (Udaipur); CP Joshi; Harish Choudhary; Rajbala Ola and Pramod Jain, the senior member said.

The party will introduce new faces on 8-10 Lok Sabha seats, such as Jaipur-rural, Jodhpur, Churu, Ajmer, Sri Ganganagar, Bharatpur, Jalore, Rajsamand and Kota, he said. “The number of women candidates will be reduced to 3-4, unlike the last LS polls where six were given chance.”

All India Congress Committee general secretary and state in-charge Avinash Pande said, “The screening committee has finalised names on 25 Lok Sabha constituencies. All preparations for the central election committee have been done.”

Many ticket aspirants, including party legislators, ministers and leaders’ relatives, met members of t he s creening committee, and also separately chief minister Ashok Gehlot at his Jodhpur house on Sunday.