'There are possibilities that Mayawati may go for early polls. Therefore, Congress has started its preparations for the assembly elections which are actually slated to be held in 2012,' senior party leader and MP PL Punia said.
Apprehending that BSP supremo and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati could go for early polls in the state, Congress will finalise its candidates for 2012 assembly elections at least six months in advance.
"There are possibilities that Mayawati may go for early polls. Therefore, Congress has started its preparations for the assembly elections which are actually slated to be held in 2012," senior party leader and MP PL Punia told PTI.
The party has already started an exercise to identify candidates and the process would be wrapped up at least six months before the assembly elections, he said.
"This time AICC or the state unit will have no role in selection of candidates," Punia said adding that party observers were already working in the field to identify probable candidates and they will submit their report directly to the AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Punia claimed that Mayawati has realised that her traditional Dalit vote bank was fast drifting away from her party and going towards Congress.
"Mayawati has realised that her party is facing a serious threat from Congress and her vote bank is drifting away fast," he said adding, this was the reason the BSP supremo was on a spree of offering sops to the people, especially Dalits.
Punia claimed that a large number of BSP leaders and workers were turning towards the Congress and many have expressed their willingness to contest the coming elections under its banner.
"Realising that the BSP ship is sinking, a number of BSP leaders and workers have either joined the Congress or are in the process of doing as they know that the party is turning out to be a formidable force in the state," he said.
Congress has already said it will not enter into any electoral alliance in next assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, where its campaign in the Lok Sabha elections led by Rahul Gandhi yielded 22 of the 80 seats to the party, taking it to the revival path in the crucial state of the Hindi heartland.
Asked about re-appointment of Rita Bahuguna Joshi as UPCC chief for a second consecutive term despite differences within the party, Punia said she was a good leader.
"Joshi is the leader of UP and nobody has objection over it. Once party president Soniaji has announced her as the state president, all differences are over," he said.
Punia, who has been recently appointed chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, has been entrusted by the party with the task of uniting Dalits in favour of Congress.
"The Dalits know very well that only Congress could work for their welfare," Punia, who had been Mayawati's principal secretary three times in her earlier regime, said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}