The Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) in its first meeting has finalised candidates for 34 of the 90 seats, giving a green signal to 22 sitting MLAs. The decision came during a crucial meeting chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, with significant input from Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Haryana Deepak Babaria, and Haryana Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Contrary to all apprehensions, the meeting was relatively calm and smooth apart from tussle in one or two seats. Chances of win is the leading consideration in the candidate selection, sources said adding that performance of sitting multiple-term MLAs were also under scrutiny . It was clean Hooda show, they said. However, the list of the candidates is likely to come out after Wednesday as the CEC is likely to hold meetings for the next two days to discuss all the names proposed by the party’s screening committee.
“Today, we discussed 49 seats and finalised 34 candidates. The remaining 15 seats will be revisited for further discussion. Another meeting will be held in Delhi tomorrow evening, where we aim to finalise all 90 seats,” said Deepak Babaria. Kaithal constituency, where Randeep Surjewala was two-time MLS, will come up for discussion tomorrow.
Addressing the speculation around former BJP Minister Rao Narbir, who has hinted at joining Congress if not given a BJP ticket, Babaria noted, “I have not spoken to him personally, but he is in discussions with our state committee leaders. He has expressed interest in joining Congress. We will make a final decision on Rao Narveer in the next two to three days.”
Babaria also criticised the BJP, stating, “Many of BJP’s finalised candidates are reluctant to contest. Almost all major BJP leaders are avoiding running in the elections.”
Congress leader T.S. Singh Deo mentioned that Bhupinder Hooda might contest from his previous seat, Garhi-Sampla Kiloi.
