The Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) of the Telangana Congress, that met on Tuesday to discuss the names of the aspirants who applied for tickets, decided to seek further details of the aspirants even as several members wanted to discuss and decide on the number of seats to be given to women and Backward Classes.
However, several members demanded complete details of the candidates before them to start the discussion as only the names of the candidates who applied were placed before them. There was no mention of the caste and sub-castes of the candidates, their contribution to the party, the dates of their entry into the party and their previous record if they had contested in other elections or if they had any cases pending against them.
How can the committee discuss the names when it was unaware of the candidates’ personal details like their association with the party and political journey before joining the Congress if they had worked in other parties earlier, was the view of the majority of members. It was then decided to reconvene the meeting on September 2 followed by the Political Affairs Committee on the same day.
The Screening Committee Chairman Muraleedharan and members Baba Siddique and Jignesh Mewani will be arriving on September 4 and the list of probable candidates will be handed over to them. They will further discuss with the senior leaders and other stakeholders before shortlisting the candidates from the application list.
More seats for BCs sought
Former PCC chief V. Hanmanth Rao apparently insisted on announcing the number of seats to be given to Backward Classes in the meeting itself, but his suggestion was shot down saying a lot of candidates did not even mention their castes and sub-castes to be discussed. He also wanted BCs be given seats where the party was strong even if the candidates were not so strong. Former Union Minister Renuka Chowdary also insisted on the women candidates and the number of seats to be given to them as per the Udaipur declaration.
Former Union Minister Balaram Naik demanded that his son be considered for a seat along with him, but since that was not the agenda of the meeting it was not taken forward. Such policy issues would be discussed at the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting rather than the PEC where only the merits and demerits of the candidates will be discussed.
