New Delhi/Patna: The Congress party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) will meet in Delhi on Monday to finalise its strategy for the Bihar assembly elections, with ticket distribution and seat-sharing among the key issues on the table.
The meeting, to be chaired by Rahul Gandhi, will also be attended by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretary KC Venugopal, Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru and state party chief Rajesh Ram. Senior leaders including legislature party leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan and legislative council leader Madan Mohan Jha are also expected to participate.
A screening committee report will be presented during the deliberations. The panel, headed by Ajay Maken with members Praniti Shinde and Imran Pratapgarhi, has been gathering feedback from Bihar. Potential candidates have travelled to Delhi to put forward their claims, presenting constituency-level reports and strategies to the committee. The process involves one-to-one interviews, online applications, checks against party criteria and consultations with state leadership.
Sources said Congress will prioritise constituencies where it has previously performed strongly. In the 2020 assembly polls, the party won 19 of the 70 seats it contested. But with new allies joining the opposition bloc, including Pashupati Paras’s Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha led by chief minister Hemant Soren, the party may have to settle for around 66 seats.
