Kamat, Maken offer seats for selection by primaries

Two Congress general secretaries today offered their parliamentary seats for candidate selection under "primary" system mooted by Rahul Gandhi as constituencies of two Union Ministers were dropped from the list of 16 such seats creating a buzz.
Parliamentary seats of sitting MPs and Union ministers Kapil Sibal and Krishna Tirath figured in the list of 16 Lok Sabha seats for 'INC Primary' put out on the party website. But hours later, names of Chandni Chowk and North West Delhi seats were found deleted today.
Under the 'Primary' system, a political party or a political alliance nominates candidates for an election by shortlisting through an internal vote.

The general secretaries, who offered their seats are five-time party MP Gurudas Kamat and sitting New Delhi MP and AICC Communication Department Chairman Ajay Maken.
Kamat has told Rahul Gandhi that his seat should be brought among the list of constituencies where candidate selection will be done through the primary system. He is an MP from Mumbai North West.
Talking to PTI, Kamat hailed the selection of candidates through the primary system saying "this is the right way to gauge the mood of voters towards a candidate in a particular constituency".

Making the same offer, Maken said on Twitter, "I have offered/ requested party to include my constituency for primaries so that the workers/ common man can chose their Lok Sabha candidate".

With the deletion of names of two Parliamentary seats, the number of such seats had dropped to 14 from the 16. If the seats of Maken and Kamath are included the number will be restored.
Addressing the AICC meeting here on January 17, Rahul Gandhi had said "in 15 constituencies in the Lok Sabha polls, we will finalise candidates by asking party workers. They will directly elect candidates".
Gandhi has been said that if the experiment works, it would be expanded.
Responding to the changes in the list of constituencies for the primaries, Singhvi sought to downplay any controversy.
"This is a pilot in the making. Necessary adjustments and finetuning is being done. The concept is important. The detailing will be completed shortly," Singhvi said.