Bengaluru: State Congress leaders who will be in Delhi to attend the plenary session of the party this weekend, may not find the time to discuss election-related issues with party national president, Rahul Gandhi.

Sources said that since the party’s Central Election Committee is slated to meet for two days on March 28 and March 29, Mr Gandhi may not meet state leaders now.





Meanwhile, the state election committee of the Congress is likely to finalise candidates for 130-150 constituencies at its March 26 meeting. In the first meeting held on Wednesday, the election committee did not finalise any candidates, however, it discussed the probables for constituencies represented by Opposition party members. By March 26, the party is hopeful of getting a direction from the central leadership on the guidelines for selecting candidates based on which the meeting will finalise candidates.

Besides 123 sitting MLAs, the party is likely to recommend names of those who lost the 2013 assembly elections by a narrow margin. Party leaders here therefore claim that the election committee will announce candidates for 130-150 constituencies. The Central Election Committee will be assisted by one more screening committee led by party general secretary, Madhusudan Mistry. Mr Gandhi had reportedly told state leaders that the party should finalise candidates well in advance so that they can campaign effectively.