The churning has intensified in Congress regarding candidates for five Lok Sabha seats of Uttarakhand. In the meeting of the screening committee constituted for the state on Saturday in New Delhi, emphasis was laid on the winning candidates. About 40 claimants for party tickets on all five seats were also discussed. It is believed that on the basis of the recommendation of the screening committee, the party’s candidates can be selected by the last week of this month. Committee member Yashomati Thakur, state in-charge Kumari Selja, state Congress president Karan Mahara and leader of opposition Yashpal Arya attended the meeting chaired by screening committee chairman Bhakta Charan Das.
The State Congress Committee had sought names from contenders for Lok Sabha seats till last Monday. The state organization had received names of about 40 claimants. Earlier, on February 10, state in-charge Kumari Selja, who came on a two-day visit, had talked to party MLAs, former MLAs, former MPs as well as senior leaders separately and taken feedback regarding the possible candidates of the party. The screening committee had visited Uttarakhand in the last week of January. Feedback taken at various levels regarding the position of the party and potential candidates in the Lok Sabha elections was also discussed. It was decided that candidates for all five seats would be selected considering their chances of victory.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the party will corner the BJP by raising local issues prominently. State Congress President Karan Mahara said that in the meeting of the screening committee, along with the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, the issues being raised during the elections were also discussed. There will be more meetings of the screening committee.
Training given to war room officials
There was a discussion on making the party’s war room effective at Rajiv Bhawan, the state Congress headquarters, on Saturday. All India Congress Committee’s War Room Training Head Lalit Meghvanshi trained the War Room officials. The meeting was presided over by War Room Chairman Naveen Joshi. Lalit Meghvanshi gave information regarding the strategy to strengthen the party at the booth level and raising issues related to public interest. Naveen Joshi said that work is going on actively on Booth Jodo Bharat Jodo campaign. Gopal Singh Gadiya, Vinay Kumar, Praveen Doval, Praveen Tyagi, Virendra Pradhan, Vineet Gupta were also present in the meeting.
