Amid reluctance shown by its top leaders of the State unit to contest the Lok Sabha elections, the screening committee of the Congress party will meet again on March 6 to discuss the names of the candidates for the five seats in Uttarakhand. The meeting of the screening committee headed by Bhaktcharan Das was earlier scheduled on March 1 but the political upheaval in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh forced the party to postpone the meeting of the screening committee. After its meeting the screening committee will send its list of the probable candidates to the central election committee (CEC) which will release the names of the party candidates for the five seats of Garhwal, Haridwar, Terhi, Nainital- Udham Singh Nagar and Pithoragarh- Almora. It is learnt that the Congress leadership is adopting a wait and watch policy on the issue and is waiting for the BJP to release the names of its candidates. However, speculations are also rife that one or two senior leaders of the Congress can cross over to the BJP. The central leadership of the party is also perturbed by the refusal of the senior leaders of the party to enter the electoral battle in the Lok Sabha elections. Former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president and Chakrata MLA Pritam Singh has reportedly conveyed his message to the central leadership that his name should not be considered for Tehri Lok Sabha seat. Similarly a section of the party wants the leader of opposition (LoP) Yashpal Arya to contest the Pithoragarh- Almora (reserved) seat but Arya too has expressed his reluctance to contest from this seat. Former chief minister Harish Rawat who remains the strongest bet for the party for the Haridwar seat has expressed his desire that the party leadership should field his son from Haridwar. Former PCC president Ganesh Godiyal has also expressed his reluctance to contest from Garhwal and after the recent raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) former cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat –who earlier was keen to contest from Haridwar- has also withdrawn from the race for the party ticket.

The PCC president Karan Mahara said that the names of 35 leaders for the five seats were discussed in the last meeting of the screening committee held in New Delhi. He said that the party will contest the Lok Sabha elections with its full might.