A month after the poll debacle in Punjab,the Congress began its stocktaking exercise in New Delhi on Friday. A high-powered committee headed by Defence Minister AK Antony,and comprising Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde as its members,met senior state leaders to look into the reasons for the poll defeat. With the selection of candidates being seen as a crucial reason for the drubbing,the panel will be meeting the five members of screening committee which decided on the 117 candidates. The screening committee includes Union Minister CP Joshi who headed the panel,Delhi Congress president JP Aggarwal,Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh,former leader of Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Punjab affairs in-charge Gulchain Singh Charak. Also on the list of invitees are union ministers from Punjab,Ambika Soni,Ashwani Kumar and Preneet Kaur,Congress Working Committee members Jagmeet Brar and Mohinder Singh Kaypee and secretaries attached to the state,Sanjay Nirupam and Dr Lakshmi Sadho besides newly-elected leader of opposition Sunil Jakhar. The first meeting of the committee was held on Friday. Even though the faction-ridden state Congress has welcomed the move,some leaders are not happy about those being heard by the panel. Most of those invited are the same people who decided the seats and cost us the elections. the exercise has come too late and will achieve too little, a senior leader said.
