JAIPUR: The state’s ruling Congress will invite applications for prospective candidates for the Assembly polls from block and district committees before finalising the list of candidates based on their winnability, the party decided in the first meeting of its State Election Committee here on Saturday.
After the meeting, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, “You must have seen that a 90-year-old youth was also given the party ticket in the Karnataka elections, and he won. So tickets will be given to the ones who can win.” This statement made it clear that the resolution the party adopted in the Udaipur Chintan Shivir to give 50% tickets to leaders below 50 may take a back seat in the assembly elections due by the yearend.
Meetings will be held in all the block committees of the party in presence of the state Congress in-charge office bearers from August 21 to 23 as a preliminary step towards the selection of potential candidates, said state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra. He claimed the party would return to power in the state.
In these meetings, applications will be invited from persons keen on contesting the Assembly elections, and a list of such applications, along with the comments of the party’s block president on them and notes on the proceedings of the meeting, will be sent to the district Congress committee on August 24, as per decisions taken at the State Election Committee meeting.
From August 25 to 27, members of the State Election Committee will go to the districts, receive all the applications, and discuss the merits of the potential candidates with the presidents of the district Congress committees. A panel of three to five persons for each constituency will then be formed for a screening of the potential candidates based on the feedback from the districts.
The chairman of the Screening Committee, Gaurav Gogai, and members of the State Election Committee will tour Rajasthan from August 28 and 31 and meet important leaders and workers of the party to seek their feedback. This will be followed by a meeting of the State Screening Committee to finalise the list of candidates.
Gehlot said the decision to involve the block and district committees aims at activating the party’s grassroots organisations and ensure their involvement in the selection of candidates.
He referred to Rahul Gandhi’s repeated advice that wherever possible, local bodies and panchayati raj heads, zilla parishad members, panchayat samiti members or councillors should be considered for tickets.
“But priority will be given to those who are likely to win,” said Gehlot.
Dotasra termed the State Election Committee meeting as a success and said, “Everyone is talking about our government’s major public welfare schemes and our good governance. We are all united. There are no differences among us. We will fight the elections together… We will win in 2023, and the way to Delhi in 2024 will be open for us.”
Congress secretary Amrita Dhawan said the party is focusing on about 50 seats, where it has faced defeats consecutively as the party now sees an opportunity there. “We will try capitalise on the strong anti-incumbency against the sitting BJP MLAs by putting up strong candidates there,” she added.
The state in-charge of Congress, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, and former deputy CM Sachin Pilot were present at Saturday’s meeting along with Gehlot and Dotasra.
Screening Committee members Ganesh Godiyal and Abhishek Dutt also participated in it.
After the meeting, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, “You must have seen that a 90-year-old youth was also given the party ticket in the Karnataka elections, and he won. So tickets will be given to the ones who can win.” This statement made it clear that the resolution the party adopted in the Udaipur Chintan Shivir to give 50% tickets to leaders below 50 may take a back seat in the assembly elections due by the yearend.
Meetings will be held in all the block committees of the party in presence of the state Congress in-charge office bearers from August 21 to 23 as a preliminary step towards the selection of potential candidates, said state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra. He claimed the party would return to power in the state.
In these meetings, applications will be invited from persons keen on contesting the Assembly elections, and a list of such applications, along with the comments of the party’s block president on them and notes on the proceedings of the meeting, will be sent to the district Congress committee on August 24, as per decisions taken at the State Election Committee meeting.
From August 25 to 27, members of the State Election Committee will go to the districts, receive all the applications, and discuss the merits of the potential candidates with the presidents of the district Congress committees. A panel of three to five persons for each constituency will then be formed for a screening of the potential candidates based on the feedback from the districts.
The chairman of the Screening Committee, Gaurav Gogai, and members of the State Election Committee will tour Rajasthan from August 28 and 31 and meet important leaders and workers of the party to seek their feedback. This will be followed by a meeting of the State Screening Committee to finalise the list of candidates.
Gehlot said the decision to involve the block and district committees aims at activating the party’s grassroots organisations and ensure their involvement in the selection of candidates.
He referred to Rahul Gandhi’s repeated advice that wherever possible, local bodies and panchayati raj heads, zilla parishad members, panchayat samiti members or councillors should be considered for tickets.
“But priority will be given to those who are likely to win,” said Gehlot.
Dotasra termed the State Election Committee meeting as a success and said, “Everyone is talking about our government’s major public welfare schemes and our good governance. We are all united. There are no differences among us. We will fight the elections together… We will win in 2023, and the way to Delhi in 2024 will be open for us.”
Congress secretary Amrita Dhawan said the party is focusing on about 50 seats, where it has faced defeats consecutively as the party now sees an opportunity there. “We will try capitalise on the strong anti-incumbency against the sitting BJP MLAs by putting up strong candidates there,” she added.
The state in-charge of Congress, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, and former deputy CM Sachin Pilot were present at Saturday’s meeting along with Gehlot and Dotasra.
Screening Committee members Ganesh Godiyal and Abhishek Dutt also participated in it.
