New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said it was facing a problem of plenty in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh where a rush for party tickets has been witnessed recently. “There is a rush of ticket seekers on most of the Assembly seats in the state. We will start taking applications for the tickets soon,” AICC in charge of Madhya Pradesh JP Agarwal told ETV Bharat.
According to him, the rush of ticket seekers is due to a perception gaining ground among the voters that the grand old party is on a come-back trail in the state. “There is a mood swing among the voters in the state. They are angry with the BJP. The ruling party leaders have also sensed that and are therefore lining up to join the Congress,” said Agarwal.
For a change, he said, the problem of plenty was a happy sign for the Congress managers. “It is good when there are several strong candidates on a seat. Surveys are already on both at the state and central level to identify the best candidates,” said Agarwal. The AICC in-charge further stated that while the ongoing surveys are an internal exercise, the formal process would start when the party chief Mallikarjun Kharge names the screening panel for Madhya Pradesh.
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“The screening panel would review the names of potential candidates approved by the state unit. The short-listed names would then be scrutinised by the Central Election Committee before the tickets are finalised,” said Agarwal. “Ticket distribution would be key to our win and only the best candidates should get a chance. In case there are many strong contenders on a given seat, the AICC observers will be deployed to help evolve a consensus among them,” he said.
The Congress veteran pointed out that the party had emerged as the single largest with 114/230 seats in 2018. The BJP had 104 seats. This time the party is targeting 150 seats. To meet that target the party is also exploring how to win the tough seats that the Congress has been losing for years.
“Four senior leaders have been deployed to survey the tough 66 seats. They will submit a report soon,” said Agarwal. Besides doing the groundwork to identify suitable candidates, Agarwal has also asked the AICC secretaries to tour the districts allocated to them and has asked the state unit to fill up organisational posts in all districts. “We want the organisation to be strong. I have asked that all gaps, including local appointments, must be done at the earliest,” said Agarwal.
The AICC in charge has also asked the party workers to enrol women in large numbers for the Rs 1,500 per month allowance scheme and LPG cylinder at Rs 500 and explain to them about the other guarantees like free power up to 100 units and half bill up to 200 units, restarting the farm loan waiver scheme, and bringing back the old pension scheme for government employees.
“I have asked the workers to reach out to the voters and ensure maximum enrolment for the two schemes. Similar schemes helped us in Karnataka and will play an important role in MP as well,” said Agarwal. “I have also asked the workers to tell the voters about the failures of the BJP government be it corruption in jobs, faulty Mahakal temple statues, proper remuneration to farmers and law and order situation,” he added.
