Odisha: AICC focuses on 11 of 21 Lok Sabha seats
The screening committee is going by the party chief's formula of selecting candidates from grassroots level.
Bhubaneswar: All-India Congress Committee (AICC) has approached the selection of candidates in Odisha with a different strategy, ahead of the general elections and Assembly polls.
Camping in the state for the first time, the AICC screening committee has turned its focus on 11 different Lok Sabha constituencies. Going by the party chief Rahul Gandhi’s formula to select candidates from grassroots level, the screening committee is leaving no stone unturned to meet the criteria set by the top brass.
On the second day of the short-listing of candidates, chairman of the screening committee, VD Satheesan held discussions with various stakeholders for selection of candidates for Puri and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies, while member of the AICC screening committee, Naushad Solanki carried out process for Kala-handi and Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seats.
“Our party’s poll prospects are better than earlier. Now we expect good results in 11 Lok Sabha constituencies, so we will concentrate more on them, but it does not mean that we will not focus on other seats,” said Mr Satheesan.
“We have suffered defeats on several occasions, so the screening committee is consulting with all stakeholders on an individual level to ascertain the political scenario of their areas,” said party leader and former Nabarangpur MP, Pradip Majhi.
Out of power in state since 2000, the Congress is struggling to ascertain in state politics in recent times. In 2014, the party won only 16 of the 147 assembly seats while it drew nil in Lok Sabha polls.
While the BJD won 20 of the 21' Lok Sabha seats, the BJP was content with only one seat.