Congress unlikely to declare Bihar list by Sep 25

NEW DELHI - The Congress is unlikely to meet its target of releasing the entire list of candidates for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections by Sep 25, party leaders said Thursday.

Party sources said that the screening committee for Bihar was yet to finalise its recommendations for 103 seats that will go to the polls in the last three phases. The recommendations will be sent to the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC), headed by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, for final clearance.

The screening committee, which met here Thursday, took up the names of party candidates which were left pending at the meeting of CEC held Wednesday.

Party sources said that the CEC finalised candidates for the first three phases of polls and kept its decision pending on about 35 seats as more discussions were required.

They said that all 140 names for the first three phases of the polls are expected to be finalised Friday. The party has not yet decided if it will declare candidates in phases or announce the entire list of 243 candidates in one go.

Congress legislative party leader in Bihar Ashok Ram had said on Sep 12 that the party will declare all its candidates by Sep 25 after approval by the party president.

The Congress is the only major party in the state which is contesting all 243 seats in the six-phased Bihar polls beginning Oct 21.

Party leaders said that the discussions on the candidates were taking time as the central leadership had reviewed some recommendations sent by the state election committee. The screening committee is also collating the information provided by the observers sent to various constituencies, they said.