Senior All-India Congress Committee and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee leaders are believed to have decided to end the “quota system” in distributing party ticket for this year’s Assembly election. Usually, a majority of the tickets are given on the basis of familial connections with leaders and associates of influential functionaries.
A senior Congress leader told The Hindu that tickets would be distributed in an “objective, data driven manner”, instead of on the basis of the whims and fancies of some leaders.
AICC Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Goa in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao is also expected to meet senior leaders and newly-appointed office-bearers on January 9 and 10 in Chennai.
A party source said the Congress leadership had, through data in all constituencies, examined possible scenarios like the number of seats the DMK could win, with and without the Congress. “Previously, what used to happen was that leaders would pick constituencies based on where they had some [viable] candidates or they would field their sons and daughters. This time, Rahul Gandhi and senior leaders like P. Chidambaram have agreed that we are not going to go down that route,” he said.
Another leader said the Congress had identified around 75 seats where it had a presence and could make a difference.
“We have made three lists of 25 constituencies, based on our preferences. We will decide on the candidates based on what they have done in the constituency, rather than whose relatives they are,” he said.
While the Congress is aware of the criticism on its poor “strike rate”, a senior leader said that nobody was looking at the number of seats the DMK would have lost without the Congress. “Based on our analysis, the DMK would have lost 28 seats in 2016. We even have a list of seats,” he said.
Gopanna, vice-president, TNCC, said the “quota system” should be eliminated. “What should matter is the winnability of the constituency and the candidate,” he said.
