Congress may deny tickets to some ministers in Rajasthan assembly polls

NEW DELHI: Congress may deny ticket to some ministers to ward off anti-incumbency in poll-bound Rajasthan where it is eyeing a second successive stint, amid efforts by the party high command to bring in fresh faces.

As plans to reduce the anti-incumbency at the MLA level, the party has initiated an elaborate exercise under which some ministers in the Ashok Gehlot government and some Congress MLAs may be deprived of ticket.

A senior party leader said winnability is the criteria in which image and performance are the key factors. The leader, who declined to be identified, said it could affect some Ministers adversely.

Several 'do's and don'ts' have been decided in the selection of candidates. This include those who lost in two consecutive elections or in the Lok Sabha and the Assembly will not be given tickets as also those who were defeated by more than 20,000 votes.

It has also been decided that some 30 per cent candidates who had got the lowest number of votes in the last elections will not be renominated.

A meeting of the AICC Scrutiny Committee, headed by party General Secretary Ajay Maken, is scheduled here on October 7 and 8.

The committee comprises of Congress General Secretary Gurudas Kamat, who is In-charge of party affairs in Rajasthan, as a member along with AICC Secretary Ramchandra Khuntia, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and PCC Chief Chander Bhan.