BHOPAL: Opposition Congress' state election campaign management committee chief Jyotiraditya Scindia wants 30% percent tickets of the party in the year end Madhya Pradesh assembly polls to be given to new faces.
"It's my personal opinion that 30% of the tickets should be given to new faces who haven't contested Vidhan Sabha polls ever in the past. But this doesn't mean that such new faces should be political novice. Instead such new faces should include grass root political representatives who have some kind of electoral background like elected district panchayat members and chiefs, besides local body representatives and municipal councilors," Scindia said in Chhattarpur district on Wednesday.
"Winnability should be the prime criterion that should guide party's selection of candidates for the year end assembly polls in the state. New faces who haven't contested even a single assembly election in the past, but have contested and won other local polls, particularly local body and municipal polls should be fielded on around 70 seats," he maintained.
The former union minister and presently four-time sitting Lok Sabha member from Guna seat of the state, further said the party is conducting an internal survey for selecting winnable candidates for the next assembly polls.
The opposition Congress which has been out of power in the state since last 15 years is working to stage a comeback to power in the central Indian state with a completely new look team in the state headed by the state party chief Kamal Nath and Scindia as the campaign management committee chief.
Old warhorse and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, who has been made the chief of state party's coordination committee, is meanwhile, touring West UP presently as part of statewide Ekta Yatra to galvanise the faction ridden party into a united outfit to take on the ruling BJP.
However, if political developments are anything to go by, the grand old party might pick the CM's face from among Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia only.
Recently, the party's national general secretary in-charge for the state Deepak Babaria had said that the party has made up its mind to select the CM's candidate from among Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia only and no other leader was in the race for becoming the CM, once the Congress dethrones BJP from power in MP.
Meanwhile, back in Bhopal, state party's media in-charge Manak Agrawal said the first list of the party candidates for the assembly polls is likely to be released in the near future.
"The in-charge of State Election Scrutiny Committee Madhusudan Mistry is shortly going to arrive on a two-day visit to the state, where he will meet present and past MLAs and MPs, besides party office bearers of various districts."
Earlier in the day, the newly constituted state working committee of the opposition party met for the first time in Bhopal, with MPCC chief Kamal Nath chairing the meeting.The meeting which was addressed only by Nath passed four resolutions, including condemnation of farmers deaths and suicides, crippling financial status of the state, rising unemployment and soaring crime against women.