To shortlist LS candidates, Bajwa to meet Joshi today
Tuesday, 24/12/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131224/punjab.htm#7
Chandigarh : Keen to clear the first lot of 150 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections by mid-January, the Congress high command has initiated the process to shortlist names of suitable candidates for various constituencies in the country.
Party insiders said senior members had been deputed to interact with state unit chiefs for the purpose. Sources said PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa would meet CP Joshi and Madhusudan Mistry tomorrow to discuss suitable candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
Joshi would thereafter submit a list of the names to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and the party parliamentary board.
Bajwa may be renominated from Gurdaspur. Ravneet Singh Bittu and Vijay Inder Singla are likely to be refielded from Anandpur Sahib and Sangrur. Perneet Kaur, Manish Tiwari and Mohinder Singh Kapayee are likely to be re-nominated from Patiala, Ludhiana and Jalandhar. The Congress high command may opt for fresh faces in other constituencies. The party will have to select suitable candidates for the Amritsar, Bathinda, Faridkot, Ferozepur and Khadoor Sahib constituencies which elected SAD candidates last time. Sources said Bajwa would meet AK Antony, who heads the committee to decide on alliances with regional parties. Earlier, there was talk that the Congress was keen on an alliance with the Manpreet Badal’s PPP. However, former CM Amarinder Singh is strongly opposed to such an alliance. The latter, who is a CWC member, favours a pact with Left parties.
But these parties are a part of the Sanjha Morcha headed by Manpreet Badal. The party high command may take a final call on the issue after due discussions.
