MP polls: Kamal Nath says 140 seats discussed in Congress CEC meet; list to be announced in a week (Ld)

New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) The Congress will announce the names of candidates on at least 140 seats for upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections within a week, party's state chief Kamal Nath said on Saturday, adding that the names of the probables were discussed in the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting here.

Speaking to the media, Kamal Nath said: "We had a meeting of the CEC, where we discussed names (of probable candidates) and we will finalise the candidates in next five to six days... The names of candidates will be announced in next six to seven days."

"We have discussed over 140 names during the meeting and will again meet to finalise the names," the former Chief Minister added.

The CEC meeting, which went on for over one and half hour, held at the party headquarters on Saturday.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Kamal Nath, Madhya Pradesh Congress incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala, Screening Committee chairman Jitendra Singh and many others attended the meeting.

This was the first CEC meeting to discuss the candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in the state.

Kharge had reconstituted the 16-member CEC on September 4 with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and many others as its members. The 16-member CEC also has veteran party leader like Ambika Soni, Madhusudan Mistry, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Salman Khurshid, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister T.S. Singh Deo, K.J. Geogre, Pritam Singh, Mohammad Jawed, Amee Yajnik, P.L. Punia, Omkar Markam and Venugopal as its members.

The Congress is campaigning aggressively in Madhya Pradesh with Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra leading from the front. All the three senior leaders had addressed public meetings in the state.

The Congress has also announced several guarantees in the state and is eyeing to return in power in the state. On the other hand, the BJP is also eyeing to retain the power in the state and has already announced two lists for the state.