BHUBANESWAR: The Congress on Sunday launched a portal where prospective candidates can apply online for party tickets to contest in the ensuing simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Odisha. Terming the move as ‘first-of-its-kind’ in the country, the party said even sitting lawmakers of the party will have to apply online for tickets.
Congress’s Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar, who unveiled the portal (http://pragaman.in) said, “The objective is to maintain transparency in the selection of candidates in Odisha.The party will receive online applications from ticket aspirants from February 4 to 11.”
In the 2019 elections, Congress had won only nine of the 147 assembly seats and one of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. This time, the party expects to improve its tally to 90 seats.
“Unlike other parties, we do not want aspiring and deserving candidates to drop in names of influential people for reference purposes. We will ensure that there is no discrimination in selection of candidates. Caste, religion and financial status, among others, are no bars. This is the first time we introduced it in our party in the country,” Kumar added.
Recently, the Congress state unit came across allegations of ‘cash-for-ticket’ from different districts. On January 31, the All-India Congress Committee announced that an initiative would be put in place to rule out irregularities in the distribution of tickets in Odisha.
Party leader Praveen Pathak, who is entrusted with seeing to it that there are no irregularities in the distribution of tickets, wrote on X, “Please come forward and apply on http://pragaman.in for the Odisha Congress party tickets for MLA/MP. Project Pragaman is a process to address the challenges of political authoritarianism, social polarisation and economic inequality.”
According to the plan, the survey teams of Congress would gather details about the online applicants and their contributions or activities in their areas and would prepare a report, which would be sent to the pradesh election committee (PEC) of the state.
In the run-up to 2019 elections, the state Congress unit had drawn flak from several of its leaders over distribution of tickets. A few MLAs and former MLAs of the Congress then accused the party’s state leadership of having sold tickets to many inefficient and ineligible candidates. Some Congress leaders had even openly talked about an unholy nexus with rival parties in byelections.
Congress’s Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar, who unveiled the portal (http://pragaman.in) said, “The objective is to maintain transparency in the selection of candidates in Odisha.The party will receive online applications from ticket aspirants from February 4 to 11.”
In the 2019 elections, Congress had won only nine of the 147 assembly seats and one of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. This time, the party expects to improve its tally to 90 seats.
“Unlike other parties, we do not want aspiring and deserving candidates to drop in names of influential people for reference purposes. We will ensure that there is no discrimination in selection of candidates. Caste, religion and financial status, among others, are no bars. This is the first time we introduced it in our party in the country,” Kumar added.
Recently, the Congress state unit came across allegations of ‘cash-for-ticket’ from different districts. On January 31, the All-India Congress Committee announced that an initiative would be put in place to rule out irregularities in the distribution of tickets in Odisha.
Party leader Praveen Pathak, who is entrusted with seeing to it that there are no irregularities in the distribution of tickets, wrote on X, “Please come forward and apply on http://pragaman.in for the Odisha Congress party tickets for MLA/MP. Project Pragaman is a process to address the challenges of political authoritarianism, social polarisation and economic inequality.”
According to the plan, the survey teams of Congress would gather details about the online applicants and their contributions or activities in their areas and would prepare a report, which would be sent to the pradesh election committee (PEC) of the state.
In the run-up to 2019 elections, the state Congress unit had drawn flak from several of its leaders over distribution of tickets. A few MLAs and former MLAs of the Congress then accused the party’s state leadership of having sold tickets to many inefficient and ineligible candidates. Some Congress leaders had even openly talked about an unholy nexus with rival parties in byelections.
