Deepender Singh Hooda in Cong’s UP poll screening panel

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 17

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday constituted the party’s screening committee for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, appointing AICC in-charge of Assam and former minister Jitendra Singh as its chairman and sitting Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana Deepender Singh Hooda among two members alongside Maharashtra MLA Varsha Gaikwad.

The screening committee will shortlist candidates for the elections and forward them for the final approval of the Congress central election committee led by Sonia Gandhi.

The panel has among ex-officio members AICC general secretary in-charge of the state Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress UP unit president Ajay Lallu and Congress Legislature Party leader in Uttar Pradesh Assembly Aradhna Misra.

All AICC secretaries in-charge of Uttar Pradesh are also among ex-officio members. The Congress faces a challenging election

in Uttar Pradesh, where it had failed to cross double digits in the 2017 elections.