Pala meets Soni
From Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: With the announcement of formation of the screening committee under the leadership of former Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni, Meghalaya Congress leaders have stated arriving in the national capital.
Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma arrived here on Wednesday night to attend the National Development Council. Besides attending the NDC meeting, Dr Sangma will meet the AICC leaders during his two-day stay here.
The Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief DD Lapang, working president Deborah Marak and other top leaders are expected to arrive here.
GAD Minister AL Hek is already here for the National Water Council meeting scheduled for Friday and another Congress veteran OL Nongtdu is arriving soon for informal meetings.
Meanwhile, former Union Minister Vincent H Pala, who is Delhi, held a meeting with Mrs Soni.
“It was a courtesy call,” sources in the AICC said.
Formal meeting of the screening committee will take place after consultation with the general secretary in-charge of Meghalaya Dr Dhaniram Shandil, who has been made a minister in the Himachal Cabinet. He is also a member of the committee. Meanwhile, Congress sources have indicated that the list is unlikely to be out before the middle of next month. The sources also attributed the delay in the announcement of the list of candidates to the problem of many ticket aspirants in majority of the constituencies.
The Congress wants to release its list of 60 candidates in one go after final approval by the AICC president Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
After conducting a detailed study of the ticket aspirants, the screening committee would submit the list to Central Election Authority (CEA) which will take the final call in consultation with the party high command. The CEA is headed by Oscar Ferandes, a CWC member.