Congress forms screening committees for selection of Lok Sabha candidates

The Congress Party has constituted screening committees for all States and Union territories for early selection of the candidates for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

Party General Secretary, Janardan Dwivedi said that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretaries have been made members in the screening committees of all states under their charge with Pradesh Congress Committee, PCC chief and Congress Legislature Party, CLP leaders being the other members.

Apart from the Chairman and the usual members holding these posts, each screening committee has one more member.

According to the list released last night, former Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal will head the screening committees for Gujarat and Rajasthan along with Dadar Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's close aide Jitendra Singh has been made the screening committee in-charge of Uttar Pradesh while Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde heads the panel for Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Andaman Nicobar.

Congress MP and spokesperson P C Chacko heads the panel for Delhi, Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab.

Bhubaneshwar Kalita is the chairman of the committee for Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir and V Narayanasamy for Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura.

Mallikarjun Kharge is Chairman of the Screening Committee for Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Mumbai while Vayalar Ravi heads the panel for Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka, Ghulam Nabi Azad for Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.

Oscar Fernandes has been made Chairman for the panel in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.