With stress on merit, Congress likely to field more youths

Six municipal councilors and four members of the Youth Congress are likely to get tickets to contest the Delhi assembly elections, with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi backing them and emphasizing that candidates are chosen on the basis of merit and clean image.

“Rahul Gandhi has told the state leadership to consider councilors and the members of the NSUI who have a clean public image,” said a senior office bearer of the Delhi Congress.

While the Congress may be putting forward an ‘All is Well’ picture, the infight in the party over ticket distribution is gradually growing. Sources in the party said that while both state unit president JP Agarwal and chief minister Sheila Dikshit are working together in the ticket distribution process, it is Dikshit who will have the last laugh.

The decision on who amongst the councilors will be given tickets will be taken on the basis of the booth level and the block level meetings that the party had been conducting over the past one year. “The state leadership has been mobilising booth level workers for the past one year. Several rounds of meetings with the block level workers have taken place. The party has an in-depth report on all the aspiring candidates,” said a Congress functionary.

In the process, 10 to 12 sitting MLAs are unlikely to be fielded again by the party. The Congress has 42 MLAs in the assembly now.

Amongst those whose names have been put on hold include three cabinet ministers of the Dikshit government —  transport minister Ramakant Goswami, PWD minister AK Lovely and education minister Kiran Walia.