Pratibha: Decision on ticket after feedback on shortlisted names

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 21

It could be a while before the Congress names its candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. According to Congress state president Pratibha Singh, the party wants to finalise the candidates after carrying out a survey of the names shortlisted by the state party leaders.

CM wants more time

The Chief Minister feels that since we will vote in the last phase of the elections, there’s still time to discuss the names of the candidates. — Pratibha Singh, Congress Chief

“In a meeting with AICC in-charge for the state Rajeev Shukla, we were told that a survey would be done on the shortlisted names and the name that tops the survey would be given ticket,” Pratibha Singh had said after returning from the screening committee meeting held in Delhi on Tuesday.

She said that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also wanted to take some more time before finalising the candidates. “The Chief Minister feels that since we will vote in the last phase of the elections, there’s still time to discuss and names the candidates,” she said. The trio of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Pratibha Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri had shortlisted a few names ahead of the screening committee.

Meanwhile, a day after Pratibha dropped a bombshell by refusing to contest the elections and attributing her decision to the discouraged workers, the party is attempting damage control. “The Congress is ready to contest the elections for Lok Sabha as well as six Assembly constituencies. The party will win all four Lok Sabha seats and also the Vidhan Sabha seats if elections are held for these seats,” said party’s organizational general secretary Rajneesh Kimta here today.

Pratibha Singh had left the party in a spot by suggesting that discouraged workers were not willing to work and “there wasn’t much chance of success”. The BJP immediately lapped up the opportunity, and started claiming that the Congress leaders were scared to fight the elections.

“As the organisational general secretary of the party, I don’t think that’s true. No one is discouraged or disappointed,” Kimta said, adding that the workers were fully geared to beat the BJP like the party defeated it 15 months back.

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