Stung by the incredible rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi and humiliating defeat in four States, the Congress is mulling over dropping half of its sitting lok Sabha members in the forthcoming general election. This would mean that out of 203 sitting MPs of the Congress, about 100 will be shown the door.
The scrutiny will be done on the basis of a performance evaluation exercise to be undertaken by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and his team at party’s War Room at Guru Rakab Ganj Road.
Sitting MPs facing corruption charges and those who derive their strength from ‘pariwarwad’ will face the axe, party sources claimed. Congress’ list of candidates for the next lS election may also include several technocrats and bureaucrats, both retired and serving. Corporate honchos are also expected to be fielded from Metro cities.
Sources said that the Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) and general secretaries of States-in-charge have been asked to come with a list of probable candidates for the AICC session in Delhi on January 17. Sources said that election committees of Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka have already finalised the list of candidates for the lok Sabha elections.
In 12 Congress-ruled States — Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam and Meghalaya — the party leadership wants to retain, if not improve, the existing tally of seats.
Rahul has already addressed Congress CMs and general secretaries in-charge of PCCs asking them to check price rise and corruption. After the drubbing in four Assembly polls, the party has put on priority the restructuring of the organisation and has effected changes in Bihar, Jharkhand, Punjab, Kerala, Goa, Chhattisgarh and Delhi. Rahul has asked State units’ leadership to identify suitable and winnable candidates to minimize anti-Congress mood and take on the Modi wave.
With the AAP upsetting the bastion of the Congress in Delhi, South Delhi, East Delhi and Chandni Chowk may see new faces in the general election this time. While East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit may himself opt out of race, South Delhi MP Ramesh Kumar may be dropped. Ramesh Kumar is a brother of former Outer Delhi MP and Congress heavyweight Sajjan Kumar, who was denied party ticket due to his legal battle in 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases. Sajjan’s son Jagparvesh Kumar contested the Delhi Assembly polls but lost to the AAP.
Sources said that Rahul is also looking into the complaints of the “sincere” party workers against “ ineffective” people elevated to the post of general secretaries and secretaries. “The high command has realised that some of the undeserving people have been elevated at the cost of genuine grass-root workers,” said a very senior party functionary.