Proving that the groundswell in favour of Congress in Bihar is a reality, the AICC headquarters is swarmed by ticket seekers from the state. At least five to seven contenders for each seat could be seen queuing up at AICC in-charge of state Mukul Wsnik’s cabin to lobby in their favour.
This brings a kind of “feel good” effect, which the Congress never had since the Mandal politics in 1989 dominated the political space in the state. Thousands of ticket seekers from the state have been camping in Delhi and making rounds to the AICC headquarters for the last one week.
Besides Mr Wasnik, the ticket-seekers are also meeting the leaders who are involved in the process of ticket selection.
“The crowd of ticket seekers has been massive. We never expected such a response in a state where we have been out of power for two decades,” a senior party leader admitted.
The vicinity of 24, Akbar Road, the headquarters of the party, wears a festive look with vehicles of the ticket seekers leading to traffic snarls.
Reasons for such an enthusiasm among the Congressmen from Bihar, the senior leader said, “It is for the first time since we lost power in the state that we are contesting Assembly elections on our own and contesting all 243 seats. This has created hope among the party workers.”
“Even Rahulji’s (AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi) visit has instill a lot of confidence among party leaders and workers,” the leader added.
The general perception among the party leaders is that the young leader has the ability to transform the goodwill of the people into electoral advantage, as he did in Uttar Pradesh in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
“After a political divorce with the RJD and the LJP in the last Lok Sabha elections, the strategy of the party to go alone is paying rich dividends. The response shows that the Congress always had the cadres but they were lying dormant for the last few years,” one of the ticket seekers said.
Due to the massive response, the Screening Committee has been continuously meeting for the last three days and would continue to do so for another day or two to shortlist the names for the Central Election Committee.
The Screening Committee is expected to prune the list to three names from each of the 243 Assembly constituencies. The CEC is likely to deliberate on these names on September 23 to choose the final list of the party candidates.