Congress initiates candidate selection process; Priyanka Gandhi to lead Assam screening committee

New Delhi: Initiating the process to select candidates for poll-bound states, Congress on Saturday announced setting up of Screening Committees to choose candidates with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tasked to head the panel for Assam, a first for the Gandhi scion.

From Karnataka, BK Hariprasad will head the panel for West Bengal while senior MPs Syed Naseer Hussain will be part of the Screening Committee for Kerala and GC Chandrashekhar for the panel for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal are set to go to Assembly elections in April-May this year.

The highlight of the announcement is the assignment for Priyanka, a party General Secretary, who has not been assigned any specific role. This is the first time the Wayanad MP will be heading a Screening Committee that will shortlist candidates to enable the Central Election Committee to choose from.

It also indicates a more active role for Priyanka in the organisation, amid a section arguing that she should head the Election Management Department, which is yet to be set up.

Senior MPs Saptagiri Ulaka, Imran Masood and Sirivella Prasad are the other members in the Screening Committee for Assam where the Congress hopes to return to power after a gap of ten years.

She was in-charge of Uttar Pradesh but she resigned after Congress’ poor electoral show in the state. She was retained as a General Secretary without any responsibility. However, a section in the party is arguing for a larger role for Priyanka in the organisation.

Kerala is another state where the party hopes to return to power by ousting the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front. As she belongs to an MP from the state, the leadership chose to assign her Assam where it believes it stands a chance in the fight.

Senior leader Madhusudan will head the panel for Kerala Mistry where he had earlier been an in-charge. Senior MPs Syed Naseer Hussain and Neeraj Dangi and senior leader Abhishek Dutt are the other members of the panel.

Former Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister TS Singhdeo will head the Screening Committee for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Senior leaders Yashomati Thakur, Chandrashekhar and Anil Kumar Yadav are other members.

Hariprasad will head the Bengal Screening Committee in which senior leaders Mohd Jawed, Mamta Devi and BP Singh are members.