The Haryana unit of the Congress has shortlisted a panel of 30 candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The list includes names of all the eight sitting MPs of the Congress for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls,according to AICC secretary and party MP from Orissa,R.C. Khuntia. Addressing a press conference here today,Khuntia said the partys screening committee will go through the names,soon after which the Congress Central Election Committee will take a final decision and announce the names of 10 candidates for the state. The eight sitting Congress MPs in Haryana are Rao Inderjit Singh,Selja,Dr Arvind Sharma,Deepinder Hooda,Avtar Singh Bhadana,Jai Prakash,Naveen Jindal and Atma Singh Gill. One of the other MPs,Kuldeep Bishnoi,has quit the Congress to form his own party,the Haryana Janhit Congress. Besides the sitting MPs,Khuntia did not reveal the name of any other probable candidate. Khuntia said the Congress was geared up to face the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He exuded confidence that the Congress would win all the 10 seats from Haryana. Asked if the name of partys senior leader and state Finance Minister Birender Singh,who was also present at the press conference,had been included in the 30 shortlisted names,working president of the state Congress Kuldeep Sharma said,The Parliament has always been Birender Singhs first love. About state Congress chief Phool Chand Mullana also being a probable candidate to contest the LS polls,Sharma said,I have read in the newspapers that he wants to contest,but the party has not taken any decision so far. To a question,Khuntia made it clear that while deciding on candidates,various factors,including winnability,will be kept in mind. Even if the selection is not to the liking of any leader,howsoever big or small,the decision will be taken keeping in view the partys larger interest, he said. Khuntia further said that unlike smaller parties,it is not Congress culture where candidates can manage tickets by spending huge sums of money. While this may happen openly in the smaller parties,in Congress everything is completely transparent, he said.
