Bhubaneswar: Congress members intending to contest the Lok Sabha polls and assembly elections in Odisha will have to apply online, and candidates will be selected after screening these applications, senior party leader Ajoy Kumar said.
The decision was taken to bring transparency to the process of selecting candidates, he told reporters.
“Anybody who wants to contest the elections as a Congress candidate can apply online. A survey team will be engaged to check the background of the applicants,” he said.
“The report of the survey team will be sent to the state election committee of the party, and it will forward the report with all data to the screening committee after scrutiny. Deserving persons will be nominated following the recommendation of the panel,” he added.
Kumar said the candidate selection process will be made in a transparent manner, and there are no criteria for applying.
State Congress president Sarat Pattanayak said, “If a person can win, he or she will get a ticket notwithstanding whether any of his or her family member is also a candidate.”
Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls are usually held simultaneously in the state.
PTI