T.N. Assembly election: Congress ticket aspirants face uncertainty as leadership tries to resolve disputes

With the Central Election Committee yet to convene in the Congress, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) ticket aspirants are preparing for last-minute filing of nominations across 28 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu.

Senior TNCC members said factors such as the non-availability of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, an important decision maker, as he is held up in the final stages of the campaign in Kerala, had delayed the announcement of candidates.

In addition, senior leaders have flagged serious issues in the ticket distribution and seat selection process.

“The leadership is feeling that we got seats where we cannot find credible candidates who can fight and win the election. There is also the question of allegations raised by a Congress MP and others that seats are distributed in a non-transparent manner, which has been brought to the attention of the leadership. Therefore, there are delays,” said a senior leader.

Another TNCC leader, who will likely contest in the upcoming election, said that the candidate list would be out latest on Thursday as “there is no time to prepare and file the nomination papers”.