Meghalaya Congress president Vincent H. Pala today said that the party will be writing to all block committees to speed up the process of sending their recommended candidates for the elections to the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC).
Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of the Youth Congress convention here, Pala said that the process of identifying the candidates will start from October 23.
“The screening process will start in November and the list of candidates will come up in December,” Pala said.
“It is only when the process is completed by December we will then know as to how many candidates we will be fielding,” he added.
Pala also informed that the Congress would declare the name of candidates once the election dates are announced.
According to him, the allotment of party tickets for the MDC elections will largely depend on the blocks as there is absolutely no interference from the party high command.
“So it depends on the wisdom of the blocks, whom they propose or recommend as party candidates for the MDC elections. Any member of the party has the right to apply for a party ticket,” he said.
Pala claimed that many leaders from both Khasi-Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills region have approached the party expressing their interest to contest on Congress ticket.
He also said that there are MLAs who may apply for a ticket for the upcoming district council elections.
“The party has no objection to that so long as the rules allow MLAs to contest the district council elections,” he said.
On the party’s readiness to contest the district council elections, Pala said, “We are ready to face the election whether it is going to be held in February or whether it is going to be held at any time.”
It may be mentioned that no political party has announced the list of candidates for the KHADC and JHADC elections due to be held in March 2024.
