The ticket hopefuls and political opponents can wait. The Congress seems to be in no hurry to release its list for the January 30 Punjab polls. The Central Election Committee (CEC)headed by All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi,which met on Monday evening to finalise candidates for the polls,has deferred the release of the list to January 4. The meeting of the CEC was held but the list will not be released today. The filing of nominations begin on January 5,the list of candidates will be out by January 4, Oscar Fernandes,a member of the Central Election Committee,said at the AICC office after the meeting concluded. The meeting that began at 4.30 om continued till 7.30 pm at the residence of Sonia Gandhi at 10,Janpath. Another meeting is scheduled for Tuesday before the final list can be released on Wednesday,party sources said. Though some Punjab senior leaders attributed the delay to disagreement on some seats,the AICC office media centre said it was the party tradition to release the list a day or two after the CEC meeting. As soon as the news of meeting ending at 10,Janpath reached those camping in New Delhi,many converged at the AICC office at 24,Akbar Road. With Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh,Congress Legislative Party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal,state in-charge Gulchain Singh Charak remaining out of reach,they kept waiting at the office of AICC general secretaries Oscar Fernandes and Janardan Dwivedi for knowing the outcome of the meeting. While the official release of list stands deferred,many ticket hopefuls seemed to have gained access to information about their prospects. While a few ticket seekers and their supporters camping at Punjab Bhawan said they have been denied tickets and are leaving for home,some of those not privy to what transpired within the four walls of the CEC meeting seemed hopeful. However,a common anxiety among almost all was being left with little time to start campaigning in their constituencies. Those close to the top Punjab leaders have nothing to worry about,so do those close to the high command. For people like us,it is long wait that may end in nothing, said a ticket contender from Jalandhar district.
