Candidate selection for Raj Assembly polls by Sept: Cong

Congress today said final selection of candidates for the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly elections would be over by September next month and the party's draft manifesto would also be readied soon.
"Party's block, district and pradesh committees will finalise the probable candidates for 200 Assembly seats by August 20," AICC general secretary Gurudas Kamat, who is in-charge of party's affairs in the state, told reporters here after chairing a day-long election panel meeting.
The draft panel would be taken up with the central election committee in between August 20 and 25, which will be attended by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and PCC president Dr Chandrabhan, he said.

A final list would be submitted to the party high command for approval and by the end of September, names of candidates would probably be announced, Kamat said, adding that today's meeting was attended by 25 out of 27 members appointed by the party high command, where guidelines for candidates' selection were discussed.
A sub-committee would soon be set up for drafting the party manifesto, which would be ready by the end of this month, he said.
The party would come up with an implementable agenda, and not with something to impress others, chairman of the Manifesto Committee Shanti Dhariwal said.

Emerging from the meeting, party MLA from Barmer district, Sonaram told reporters, he had insisted Kamat to consider shifting of an oil refinery to Leelala as villagers were protesting and the state Revenue Minister Hemaram Choudhary had to resign owing to growing resentment among people.
"If the locational dispute of the refinery is not resolved soon, party might lose upto seven seats in the coming elections...It seems the government is adamant on ignoring popular demand and sticking to the Pachpadra location," Sonaram said.
The issue of giving prominence to six MLAs who had switched sides from BSP to Congress was also raised in the meeting, party sources added.