Madhusudan Mistry to head Cong screening panel for Haryana polls

The Congress on Saturday formed a six-member screening committee for Haryana assembly elections, with senior party leader Madhusudan Mistry as its chairman.

Other members of the panel appointed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi include Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja, Congress legislative party leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and AICC general secretary state in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Congress leaders Deepa Dasmunsi and Devender Yadav have also been made members of the panel.

Assembly elections in the state are slated for later this year and the Congress is seeking to wrest back power from the BJP.

The appointments come abut 10 days after the Congress named Selja chief of its Haryana unit and appointed Hooda chairperson of the election management committee.

Sonia Gandhi had also appointed Hooda as Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader, and by virtue of that, leader of opposition in the state Assembly.

In the 2014 Assembly polls, the BJP won 47 seats and went on to form its government. The Congress could only win 15 seats in the 90-member Assembly. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) had 19 legislators. Since then, the INLD has split into two factions.