Congress poll panel discusses candidates for Jharkhand seats

RANCHI: The Congress

central election committee

(

CEC

) met in New Delhi on Tuesday evening to discuss the probable candidates for seven parliamentary seats in

Jharkhand

. However, the names of the candidates were not announced till late in the night.


The CEC comprises party’s national president Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, senior leaders Ahmed Patel, Mukul Wasnik among others. “We put forth our points on the names of each and every candidate. CEC members will have a discussion among themselves again,” Congress legislative party leader Alamgir Alam told the TOI over phone after the meeting.

The party’s national in-charge for Jharkhand RPN Singh, his deputies Umang Singhar and Moinul Haq and state Congress chief

Ajoy Kumar

also attended the CEC meeting. “It is up to the CEC when it will announce the names of the candidates,” Alam added.

The buzz is that former Indian cricketer turned politician Kirti Azad is a strong contender for Dhanbad parliamentary constituency. Azad, a three time BJP MP from Darbhanga, joined the Congress last month.

Meanwhile, JMM also held back its announcement on Tuesday. Sources said the party has picked sitting Seraikela MLA Champai Soren as candidate for the prestigious Jamshedpur parliamentary seat.

Congress, which is in an alliance with JMM, JVM-P and RJD, will contest seven of the 14 seats. JMM will contest in four seats and JVM-P will fight in two. RJD, which was given one seat, has rejected the seat-sharing arrangement and fielded candidates for two seats of its choice, Palamu and Chatra. Congress has already announced it will contest from Chatra as part of the alliance.

Sources said the party will not announce a candidate for Chatra now. “We are talking with RJD and hoping they will withdraw their candidate,” a senior leader said. It is also waiting for the BJP to announce its candidates for Koderma, Chatra and Ranchi seats.