Congress survey to zero in on best poll candidates

​Hyderabad: The Congress high command is holding a survey in all the Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies of the state to select strong candidates for the next general elections. 

The survey has been entrusted to a Delhi-based poll agency and the psephology outfit is gathering the information from the voters on the candidates. The results would be submitted to the AICC in few days. 

Like the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the main opposition Congress too has taken up poll surveys in the state to assess its situation periodically. The party has asked the survey agencies to find out impressions of the people on the government and their hopes on Congress in the previous surveys.  

The Congress high command now wants to nominate strong candidates in the next elections with feedback from the ground level. It does not want to select candidates being recommended by senior leaders of the state or the PCC. 

The results of the previous elections have given a shock to the high command which had expected a win in the Assembly and many of the Lok Sabha constituencies of the state. However, its hopes were dashed as it failed to gain maximum seats in both sections. 

A party leader said that this time the high command did not want to depend on the recommendations of the state unit in selection of candidates. In the previous elections several nominees suggested by the PCC lost the elections. 

The AICC wants to have a good knowledge about the candidates both for Assembly and Lok Sabha. It wants to select strong candidates for the constituencies and did not want to give in to the pressures of party leaders. 

According to sources, the survey agency has been asked to assess the popularity of the aspiring candidates. As many as three to four names have been selected and they have been referred to the poll agency. The agency would take the opinion of the voters and would suggest the best candidate. 

The sources said that this time the Congress high command did not want to depend on a single factor. It has decided not to under estimate the abilities of the ruling party. 

In view of this it wants to select candidates carefully for the next elections. The high command has made it clear already that only those who are selected by the survey agencies would be give party tickets and no other criteria would be considered. The PCC was also informed about it and the seniors of the state unit have told the aspirants that the tickets would be distributed only on the basis of results of the survey.