Assembly Elections 2018: Congress faces big ticket distribution challenge in Rajasthan

With Assembly elections 2018 less than two months away, the Congress party is facing a big ticket distribution challenge in Rajasthan. According to sources, as many as 3,000 leaders have staked their claims for 200 tickets for the December 7 Assembly elections.

The increased number of ticket seekers has made the selection of the candidates a challenging task for the Congress party. With News Nation opinion poll predicting a full majority to the Congress in the forthcoming Assembly elections, the party is also afraid of facing the possible rebellion by the ticket seekers who may not make the cut.

On Friday, Chairperson of Congress' screening committee for the elections in Rajasthan, Kumari Selja, said that “winnability” will be the major yardstick for ticket distribution. She, however, added that the final decision would be taken by Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

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"The only ground to get a ticket will be winnability... Women who can win will also get a ticket, The final decision has to be taken by the party president but the feedback collected from states will also be considered," Selja said during a press briefing in Jaipur.

Sources also said that the ticket seekers may be called to the party headquarters in Delhi to keep the selection procedure transparent.

Meanwhile, the churning of the candidates in Madhya Pradesh has reached the final stage. If sources are to be believed, the Congress party has fixed candidates for around 100 seats. Candidates from outside were also being considered. The party has also decided to once again give tickets to the 45 sitting MLAs.

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The elections for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly will be held on December 7. Voting for the 230-seat Madhya Pradesh Assembly election will take place on November 28.

As per the latest opinion poll conducted by News Nation, the Congress is likely to upset the Vasundhara Raje's government in Rajasthan, whereas, a neck-and-neck battle was expected in Madhya Pradesh.