Antony panel report set aside

Among the main recommendations were the announcement of candidates for assembly elections at least one month in advance, not making re-entry into the party a ground for ticket nomination andcontaining indiscipline during election times by appointing senior outside observers of status for all Parliamentary/Assembly constituencies going to polls. None of them could be implemented in time for the assembly elections.

A senior party leader felt that the delay in implementing the report was expected since earlier such reports, such as one on ethics which too was headed by A K Antony, too have been gathering dust for the last couple of years. So have been many of resolutions of the Pachmarhi Declaration, especially one on projecting a clean image of the party by denying tickets to those with tainted backgrounds. 8220;Before every election, the party is faced with the same choice, whether to sacrifice winnability of candidates for a clean image and inevitably political compulsions ensure the latter taking a backseat,8221; a CWC member pointed out.