New Delhi: With elections to Rajya Sabha and
Legislative Councils in several states scheduled next month,
Congress is likely to announce its list of candidates by June
one.
Party President Sonia Gandhi today held consultations with
the AICC General Secretaries, PCC Presidents and CLP leaders
to discuss the names and shortlist them.
While the probable candidates from Maharashtra and Andhra
Pradesh were discussed earlier, the remaining states where the
elections are scheduled were taken up today.
These included Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand,
Gujarat and Karnataka.
"Discussion on names of the party candidates have been
held. They will be announced shortly," a senior leader said.
Union Ministers Ambika Soni and Jairam Ramesh are expected
to be renominated from Punjab and Andhra Pradesh respectively
while another minister Anand Sharma`s nomination could be from
Haryana or Rajasthan.
Other names being discussed in party circles include Rajni
Patil, Avinash Pandey, Balasaheb Vikhe Patil from Maharashtra,
Oscar Fernandes and B K Hariprasad from Karnataka, and Renuka
Chaudhary and J D Seelam from Andhra Pradesh.
Hectic lobbying is on by leaders from several states for
the Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council nominations and in
Maharashtra alone, there have been 24 applications for two
seats of the Rajya Sabha which the party is sure to win.
Similarly, there have been 129 applications for four of
the ten seats in the Legislative Council which the Congress is
expected to win.
PTI
