New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Ahead of the crucial Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting scheduled on October 13 to decide on the candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, the Congress on Wednesday said that it is working on its list of nominees after listening to the voices from the ground, indicating that some MLAs may be denied ticket due to lack of performance.
The CEC will meet on October 13 (Friday) to discuss the names of candidates for the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly which will go to the polls in two phases on November 7 and 17. The results will be declared on December 3.
However, it is yet to be seen if the CEC headed by party President Mallikarjun Kharge will finalise all the candidates on the same day.
In Chhattisgarh, 20 seats in the Bastar and adjoining areas will vote on November 7, followed by the rest on November 17.
Meanwhile, the ruling Congress said on Wednesday that it is hopeful of getting majority in the upcoming elections by winning 75 seats with its tagline ‘Bharosa Barkaraar, fir se Congress Sarkar’.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, Congress’ Chhattisgarh in-charge Kumari Selja said that the CEC is set to meet soon and “we will see when the candidates are announced”.
Selja said the government has worked among the people with its policies and won their trust. As for tickets and individual candidates, the performance of each nominee is being seen, and the party will listen to the voice of the people from the ground and take decisions based on that, she said while responding to a question about reports suggesting that the Congress will drop 20 sitting MLAs in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Meanwhile, a party source indicated that some MLAs may not get tickets in the Assembly elections owing to their performance.
The source said that the decision to deny tickets to some MLAs is based completely on merit.
On whether Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will be the party’s CM face, Selja made it clear that he will lead the campaign for the party, as he has been leading the government for the last five years.
“That is the practice in Congress… When an incumbent government goes to polls, the sitting Chief Minister leads the campaign. Baghel is our Chief Minister and he will be leading the campaign,” she said.
