Cong panel meets,to propose set of names for 27 seats

“The decision arrived at on the 40 Assembly seats will be announced after the approval of Congress president Sonia Gandhi around Deepawali,” Delhi Congress president J P Agarwal said.

“The committee met on Wednesday to discuss candidates for 27 seats in Delhi,which the Congress lost in the 2008 elections. Eligible candidates should have no criminal charges against them,should not have lost two consecutive elections and should not have indulged in anti-party activities,” a senior leader said.

While the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) election committee had earlier empowered Agarwal and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit with suggesting names for these 27 constituencies,the screening committee has decided otherwise. “The Delhi Congress chief and CM will discuss names with the screening committee and draw up a panel of at least three names per constituency. These names will be forwarded to the CEC,” a senior DPCC functionary said.

The screening committee is expected to meet on Thursday night after a function to pay homage to Indira Gandhi. “The committee will meet regularly over the next few days to complete the panel for the 27 seats. No decision has been taken or discussed regarding the fate of three MLAs who face serious charges,” a source said.

The three MLAs include Dayanand Chandila from Rajouri Garden,Jaswant Rana from Narela and Asif Mohammed Khan from Okhla. The source said these constituencies would be discussed after finalising the panel for the 27 constituencies.