Sheila Dikshit asks Rahul Gandhi to declare Assembly poll names early

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Congress has approached the party high command seeking early announcement of candidates for the Assembly polls scheduled early next year.

Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit last week wrote to party president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal recommending for earliest possible announcement of the candidates, a party leader said.

“This recommendation was based on the report of a committee formed by Dikshit to probe debacle of the party in recent Lok Sabha polls. The report also suggested to avoid outsiders in candidate selection,” he said.

The Congress announced its candidates for the Lok Sabha polls “very late”, which was one of the reasons behind the party’s massive defeat in Delhi, he said.

In the letter to the top leadership, Ms Dikshit has also sought permission to reorganise party structure on state, district and block level so that dedicated partymen are in responsible positions to help the party in elections,” he said.