Congress will announce the party candidates list on Nov 8 or 9

The Congress high command has postponed the announcement of party candidates for the forthcoming elections. The list will most probably be announced on November 8, four days before the notification is issued on November 12.

Chaired by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the Congress Central screening committee met on Thursday to finalise the party candidates. After discussions, the committee agreed to meet on November 6. The high command accepted the seat allocation formula among the Prajakutami allies.

The thinking in the Congress leadership is that caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao must be made to wait for the Congress list. Besides, Congress leaders are facing a financial problem. If candidates are announced now, they will begin spending money right away. The leadership wants them to start the campaign after the filing of



nominations.

After the meeting, TS Congress incharge R.C. Khuntia and TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy told the media that the Congress would contest from 95 Assembly seats out of the 119 and 24 would be shared between the TD, Telangana Jana Samiti and CPI.

They said the Congress had decided to give 14 seats to the TS TD and the party leadership had agreed to this number.  Of the remaining 10, the TJS would be given six seats — Malkajgiri, Ramagundam, Siddipet, Charminar, Wardhannapet, and Dubbaka — and the CPI the four seats of Wyra, Bellampally, Aswaraopet or Bhadrachalam and one in the Old City.

They said that the final decision on seats for the TJS and CPI would be taken after Congress president Rahul Gandhi meets TJS president Prof. M. Kodandaram and CPI leaders on Friday.