Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Discussion were made on 60 seats in the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting to select the candidates for the election, said former chief minister Kamal Nath to media persons in New Delhi on Friday.
Congress leaders brainstormed on the names of candidates for the elections in the CEC meeting. About 5,000 aspirants have filed their applications to get ticket from the Congress for 230 assembly seats.
Nath said that the party would be able to announce its list of candidates on October 15. "We have already discussed about 60 seats and will have a screening committee meeting again and after that we will finalise the list. We will announce our list after Shradh paksha (rituals dedicated to worshipping ancestors and forefathers). We are on the right track to announce our list on October 15," Nath said.
Congress leader and general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh Randeep Surjewala said "The first list of candidates will be released on the first day of Navratri."
He also said, "A lot of seats were discussed during the meeting and there was positive discussion. The way the State Congress Committee President is coordinating, it shows that Congress is moving towards victory in Madhya Pradesh."
Sources in the Congress claims that they have plan to declare names of candidates for all 230 seats in three lists based on five surveys. Of these surveys, one was done by the poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu on behalf of Rahul Gandhi, while Nath took care of another.
The first list of nearly 130 candidates, including name of state chief Kamal Nath, for the elections will be released on Sunday.
For its first list, the Congress has cleared names of 15 ex-legislators and nearly 90 sitting MLAs, said the party insiders. Nath will contest from his pocketborough Chhindwara.
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