The Delhi Congress unit on Thursday was asked to crunch its panel of probable candidates down to one name each for three of the Capital’s seven Lok Sabha seats, said sources. According to sources, the directions were issued at the Congress's Central Election Committee (CEC) convened at the party's headquarters, in presence of its national chief Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leaders including Sonia Gandhi and K K Venugopal. "At present, the panel has three to five names for each seat, of which, three were submitted to the national leadership for consideration. However, the Delhi unit was asked to zero-in on and return with only one name for each of the three seats at the next meeting, which is likely to be conducted on March 10 or 11," said a senior party leader. Party sources also said that the panel under consideration from Chandni Chowk included leaders like Jai Prakash Agarwal, Alka Lamba, Harishankar Gupta, Mangat Ram Singhal, and Sandeep Dikshit. From the Northeast seat, Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely, Chaudhary Anil Kumar, Bhisham Sharma, and Mateen Ahmed were on the panel. From Northwest Delhi, sources said, the panel includes Krishna Tirath, Raj Kumar Chauhan, Udit Raj and Surender Kumar. Around a dozen names are being assessed as probable picks for the three Delhi Lok Sabha seats that are part of the Congress's share in the city, while the AAP — its INDIA ally — has already declared candidates for four seats.
