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Party ticket on factional quotas no more: Sonia

K.V. Prasad

Selection will be done purely on the basis of competence

— Photo: R.V. Moorthy

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the Extended Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the party could not afford to continue with allocating ticket on a “quota system” to accommodate factional leaders. Candidates would be selected for elections purely on the basis of competence.

This message was delivered to the top leadership from the Centre and States at a day-long meeting of the extended Congress Working Committee here, which focussed on elections to the Lok Sabha and six State Assemblies.

Winnability criterion

Ms. Gandhi emphasised that she was taking seriously the A.K. Antony Committee recommendations, which included early selection of candidates with winnability as the main criterion. Stressing that there was greater need for unity and discipline, she said intra-party tussle in the past resulted in loss in elections.

On governance, the Congress president said several national issues were a matter of concern, price rise being the prime among them. She said the United Progressive Alliance government had taken all steps to keep inflation under control.

Congratulating Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the “historic achievement” on the nuclear agreement, Ms. Gandhi said it fully protected India’s strategic requirements and was in the best interest of the country. India would also benefit from renewed international cooperation.

Dr. Singh said the 123 agreement with the United States was the guiding spirit in the deal with Washington. The civilian nuclear agreement not only removed the restrictive regime of nuclear trade with India but would also open new vistas of development.

A dangerous trend

Briefing journalists, Mr. Moily said the Prime Minister cautioned the meeting against the growing corruption in public life and pointed out that cynicism against politicians was emerging as a dangerous trend. He said the country faced challenges in the form of terrorism, communalism and naxalism.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said that during the last four years of the UPA rule, the country had the highest inflow of $30 billion, with an average growth rate of 8.9 per cent, and Rs. 16,000 crore was earmarked for rural areas under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

At a time when international banks were facing a crisis and when food crisis erupted in various parts of the world, the Indian economy was strong enough to withstand it because of strong fundamentals.

Mr. Moily said Congress leaders from States spoke about poll preparedness and congratulated the government on the nuclear deal. They expressed dismay that in many States, where other parties were in power, the governments were either diverting the funds from Centrally sponsored schemes or hijacking them.

The meeting adopted a resolution expressing concern over the loss of lives in Bihar and Assam following floods and in Orissa due to violence.

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