Cong.(I) releases first list of candidates

By our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN.22. The Congress(I) today announced its candidates for the 108 constituencies of South Bihar, which go to the polls in the first phase on February 12. In keeping with Mrs. Sonia Gandhi's wish to give a new profile to the party, by fielding fresh faces and younger candidates, little over 23 per cent of the nominees are under 40 years of age.

Of the 108 seats in the Jharkhand area, 40 are reserved for the SC/STs. Fifty per cent of the tickets have, therefore, been given to candidates belonging to the OBC, SC and ST. The party's Central Election Committee cleared the first list this afternoon after several meetings over the past three days.

Prominent among the nominees are the Congress(I) Legislature Party leader, Mr. Ramashray Prasad Singh, former PCC(I) president Dr. Sarfaraz Ahmed, two of the recently appointed BPCC(I) working presidents, Mr. Furkan Ansari and Prof. Ram Jatan Sinha, and the former president of the Jharkhand Regional Congress(I) Committee, Mrs. Sushila Kerketta. Despite Mrs. Gandhi's reported interest in fielding a greater number of women candidates, only six women figure in the list - a mere 5.6 per cent of the total. One candidate for the Masaurhi seat, is yet to be finalised.

Sources said that the PCC(I) chief, Mr. Sadanand Singh, had been asked to clarify some points, adding that the seat had been ``earmarked'' for a woman candidate.

Mr. Devipada Upadhyay (formerly of the CPI) and Mr. Hari Ram Sardar (formerly of the JMM-S), who joined the Congress(I) five days ago, have been given tickets.

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