New Delhi: After relegating BSP to the
third spot in the Lok Sabha elections, Congress is seeking to
give UP Chief Minister Mayawati a run for her money in the
coming Assembly by-elections in the state.
The party today said it will contest all the four
seats which go to polls on August 18 and deliberated on the
name of the candidates.
AICC General Secretary in-charge of the state Digvijay
Singh met PCC President Rita Bahuguna Joshi, CLP leader Pramod
Tiwari and AICC Secretary in-charge Parvez Hashmi for two
hours to shortlist the candidates.
"We will contest all the seats which go to polls on
August 18. We have shortlisted candidates for the four seats.
More meetings are scheduled to select the candidates," Joshi
told reporters after the meeting.
The by-elections will be held for Moradabad (West),
Malihabad, Bidhuna and Morna Assembly segments. In all, there
are 13 Assembly seats vacant in the state.
The by-election will be the first test for the
Congress and the BSP to gauge their popularity in the state
after the Lok Sabha elections in which the Congress performed
remarkably well winning 21 of the 80 seats, its best
performance in over 20 years.
Congress and BSP are fighting an intense political
battle in the state following the controversy which broke out
recently involving Joshi's remarks against Mayawati.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, July 21, 2009, 22:43