Ahead of key assembly polls, Kharge constitutes Central Election Committee

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday constituted the party's Central Election Committee with 16 members including himself and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

The development comes ahead of key assembly elections in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The panel discusses and finalises the list of candidates for any parliamentary or state elections, including bypolls.

The other members of the election committee include leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, and veteran party leaders Ambika Soni and Madhusudan Mistry.

Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister T S Singh Deo, former Union minister Salman Khurshid and Lok Sabha MP from Telangana Uttam Kumar Reddy, besides Karnataka minister K J George, are also members of the key panel.

Former Uttarakhand Congress chief Pritam Singh, Bihar MP Mohammed Jawed and Rajya Sabha MP Amee Yajnik, besides former MP P L Punia and Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Omkar Markam, have also been included as members of the all-important panel.