Lok Sabha Elections: Congress delays declaring poll candidates

PANAJI: Anticipating a change in the state’s political environment, Congress delayed the announcement of candidates for the two Lok Sabha constituencies and for the three constituencies that are expected to witness byelections.
The Congress central election committee, headed by All-India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi, was expected to meet on Saturday and take a call on the candidates, but the meeting was postponed at the last minute.
“Candidates will be announced on March 19. The party will announce candidates for the bypolls and Lok Sabha together,” a functionary said.
Party sources said the names of the candidates for the North Goa and South Goa constituencies had already been finalized but the party was waiting to get a better sense of the political situation in the state.
Congress party’s process to select the candidates for the state’s two Lok Sabha seats has entered the final stages and the candidates are expected to be announced by the end of this week, said Goa desk in-charge and AICC secretary A Chella Kumar.