Congress wants 100 seats for itself

Hyderabad: Congress party leaders on Tuesday have suggested the PCC to field candidates for 100 seats in the State in the upcoming elections and to leave remaining 19 seats for the partners of the proposed alliance.

The party leaders met at a private resort in the evening during the meeting of the Pradesh Election Committee, under the chairmanship of TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy. The PEC met to shortlist the party candidates after examining the applications received from the aspirants with the help of surveys being conducted on their winning chances.

The meeting has also put focus on seats to be left to the alliance partners, Telugu Desam, Telangana Jana Samithi and Communist Party of India. Members of the PEC felt that the party should field its candidates in 100 seats at any cost. The PEC meeting has assumed significance against the backdrop of visit of the AICC Screening Committee from October 10. The list of the Congress candidates picked up by the PEC in 1:3 ratio would be submitted to the screening committee.

The AICC appointed committee would select the first best among them and would submit the list to the core committee of the AICC for announcement of the official candidates. The PEC would pick up the aspirants on the basis of their popularity among masses, their loyalty towards the party, financial strength and their performance in the previous elections.

Meanwhile, the Congress wants to complete the seat adjustments by Wednesday and wants to indicate the seats to be left out to the alliance partners. In view of this, the PEC also discussed the seat adjustments. A meeting of the alliance partners is expected to take place on Wednesday.