Candidates selection; Confusion grips Cong camp

NEW DELHI, April 18: The Congress Party's selection process has gone haywire, with the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the party imposing new candidates, leading to overall confusion among partymen. Even as the APCC leadership was trying to figure out how to handle Devananda Konwar's defiant act of filing nomination came in reports that his wife Niva Konwar has left for Assam to file nomination from Sivasagar LAC, said a senior leader of the party. Party sources said their enquiry has revealed that Devananda Konwar has filed nomination yesterday on the advise of his astrologer. However, the party High Command has not taken the matter lightly and sources said they may deny him nomination. Meanwhile, there was confusion galore here as new candidates cropped up at the last hour, some of them whose names were not even in the panel. Among the late entrant in the fray was former MP Bhubanswar Kalita, who has vyed for the Rangiya LAC and is being backed by the five defiant MPs including Ranee Narah, Madhab Rajbongshi, Abdul Hamid, Golum Osmani and Nepal Das among others. The other new entrant was advocate Neikebur Zaman who is better known for taking up human right violation cases. Zaman's name was backed at the highest level and even APCC president, Tarun Gogoi came to know about it at the CEC meeting. While Zaman is seeking nominations either from Guwahati (West) or Dharmapur in Nalbari district, the Congress has offered him Sarukhetri seat, sources said. Meanwhile, Bhubaneswar Kalita's entry has upset plans for the party as it intended to field its Youth Congress president, Rajeev Sarma from the seat. Sources said following Kalita's entry, Basanti Sarma MP has jumped into fray and now she has shown interest in contesting from Rangiya seat. Meanwhile, party sources said that High Command has asked Gogoi not to field too many candidates from the Youth Congress as their forces would be needed in campaign elsewhere in the State. Meanwhile Gogoi today submitted its reports to Sonia Gandhi detailing the background of the candidates selected by his party. The selection process is likely to be over late tonight and all the senior leaders of the party including Gogoi are likely to leave for Guwahati tomorrow. (Staff Correspondent;