Mumbai Cong list to be finalised by Jan 24

MUMBAI: The list of the probable candidates of Congress will be finalised by January 24. 

Three names from each constituency will be discussed at the district level. They will be then sent to the party’s state-level parliamentary election committee. 

Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam said that the process will get over by January 28. “According to directives issued for entire country, the names need to reach Delhi by January 31. The central leadership will take final call according to the ground report,” he said. 

Lok Sabha candidature from Mumbai seats is a very critical issue for the party. Out of the six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, the party will be contesting five as the Mumbai North-East seat, presently held by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kirit Somaiya, will be fought by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Among the seats to be contested by the Congress, South Mumbai, presently held by Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant, seems to have no other candidate other than former MP and Union minister Milind Deora. The rest four are far from being settled.

After announcement from former MP Priya Dutt that she will not be contesting this election, the party has been flooded with applications from interested candidates for the seat. For North-West Mumbai seat there is no candidate has been decided after death of former MP and Union Minister Gurudas Kamat.

Ex-MLA and former minister for state Kripashankar Singh is interested in contesting from North Mumbai seat. Varsha Gaikwad, daughter of former MP Eknath Gaikwad and present MLA from Dharavi and former Mumbai University Vice Chancellor Dr Bhalchandra Munagekar are interested from Mumbai North West seat, presently held by Shiv Sena’s Rahul Shewale.