Jaipur: The first list of candidates of the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP for the assembly elections in Rajasthan is expected by the end of September or the first week of October.
The screening committee of Congress has been in Rajasthan for the last four days meeting with prominent leaders of all the constituencies to form the panels of 3-5 candidates for each seat. These panels will be sent to the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the party to decide the candidates.
'Winability is the only criterion'
The Screening Committee was in Udaipur on Thursday to meet with the leaders of the Udaipur and Banswara divisions. Screening committee chairman Gaurav Gogoi indicated that after Udaipur, the committee may visit other divisions also. He refused to share the process of ticket distribution but regarding the criteria, he said that winability is the only criterion.
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Sources in the party said that the screening committee held divisional meetings in Jaipur in the last three days but now it is planning to go to divisional headquarters, so it seems that the process of screening aspiring candidates and forming the panels may take some more time.
Notably, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had said that the party will follow the Karnataka formula of announcing candidates two months before the elections.
BJP yet to start candidate selection process
The BJP released its first list of candidates in poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh but has yet to start the process of candidate selection in Rajasthan. Right now, the party is busy preparing for its four Parivartan Yatras that are to start from September 2 to 5 from four prominent religious places of Rajasthan.
A senior leader of the party said that the groundwork of surveys and feedback of aspiring candidates is almost complete but the party's focus is now on the success of Parivartan Yatras. All the prominent leaders of the state will participate in the Yatras for the next 25 days, so no meeting is scheduled for deliberations on candidate selection for now.
