Assembly Polls: N D Tiwari, Amarinder meet Cong leaders
New Delhi, Jan 5 (UNI) The Congress High Command held a meeting with the Chief Ministers and PCC chiefs of Punjab and Uttarakhand, the two party-ruled States going to Assembly elections next month, here today with a view to making an assessment of the poll preparations.
Senior Congress leaders Moti Lal Vora, AICC Treasurer and Incharge of Uttarakhand, Janardan Dwivedi, AICC General Secretary incharge of Punjab, and Ahmad Patel, Political Secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, held separate meetings with the Chief Ministers Amarinder Singh and N D Tiwari and PCC Chiefs Shamsher Singh Dullo and Harish Rawat of the two States.
Emerging from the meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh told media persons that the Pradesh Congress Committee had invited applications from candidates till date. The Pradesh Election Committee would look into the applications on January 10 and 11 before sending the same with recommendations to the Congress High Command for a final decision.
The PEC would send a panel of three to five candidates from each constituency to the Screening Committee for shortlisting them for final selection by the Central Election Committee, headed by Ms Sonia Gandhi.
Later PCC President Shamsher Singh Dullo told reporters that as many as 600 applications had been received for candidature in the Assembly elections.The PEC would try to prepare a panel of candidates by 10th of January.
Today's meeting with the High Command was intended to invite the Prime Minister and the Congress President to address election meetings in Punjab. While they would like the Prime Minster to address election meetings late this month, the Congress President should hold election meetings early next month. Mr Rahul Gandhi too would be invited, he said in reply to a question.
They also finalised the Manifesto Committee in consultation with the senior Congress leaders in today's meeting, he said.
Mr Dullo said the Congress prospects in the elections were bright and it would win the elections with a thumping majority as the main opposition Akali Dal was riven with dissensions. The Congress had worked a lot for the welfare of the state and the people and the amount of work accomplished couold not be undertaken ever in the state.
Asked about alliance with the CPI and CPI-M, the PCC chief said they had been sounded for an alliance on the plea that they should unite in the fight against fundamentallism and communalism.
UNI