All those who are hoping to be fielded by the Congress in the coming Assembly elections will have to fulfil at least one task in the next couple of days. The submissions of contenders for party tickets in the assembly elections will be considered by the screening committee only if they provide the names, address, contact details and other basic information about five party workers from each polling centre in the constituency they wish to contest from. The contenders will have to submit these details by the midday of January 2, 2017 said the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee chief spokesman Mathura Datt Joshi.

 Joshi informed that this decision was taken in the meeting of the central committee of the party for Uttarakhand presided over by party leader Shailja in New Delhi on December 28. This meeting was attended by the party state in charge Ambika Soni, PCC president Kishore Upadhyay, chief minister Harish Rawat, state party co in charge Sanjay Kapoor and other party office bearers. It was decided in the meeting that those wishing to contest the coming assembly elections as Congress candidates will have to submit the names, address and and other contact details of at least five Congress workers from each polling centre in the constituency they wish to contest from. The party ticket seekers will have to submit these details to the PCC office in Dehradun by 12 PM on January 2. The ticket contenders who succeed in submitting the said list within the stipulated time period will be considered by the Congress central screening committee. It will not be possible to consider the applications of those who fail to provide the information as stated, added Joshi.  Party sources state that this decision has been taken under the guidance of the party high command to ensure that ticket contenders are actively involved in various party activities at the ground level. The contenders with ‘winnability’ are likely to be those who are active enough to be familiar with at least five party workers in each of the polling centres in their constituency. On the other hand, skeptics point out that though the condition set by the party leadership may cause some to scramble to collect and submit the sought details in time, those who are not that active in the field can also fulfill the condition easily without much effort, using mainly a smart phone and internet.