Rahul Gandhi forms Congress' three-member screening committee for Telangana polls; Bhakta Charan Das named chairperson

New Delhi:  Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday formed a three-member screening committee for the forthcoming Telangana assembly elections. [caption id=“attachment_5131671” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Senior Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das has been appointed as the chairperson of the committee. Jothimani Sennimalai and Sharmishtha Mukherjee are the other two members. “Congress President Rahul Gandhi approves names of Bhakta Charan Das as the chairperson and Jothimani Sennimalai and Sharmishtha Mukherjee as members of the screening committee for Telangana,” All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, Ashok Gehlot said in a press statement. The decision was taken during a party meeting held in Delhi to chalk out a strategy for the Telangana elections. During the meeting, Rahul spoke with at least 40 members, informed senior Congress leader Jaipal Reddy. “It was a very useful session, it makes a good beginning for the election campaign,” Reddy added. Speaking on the possibility of alliances in the state, Reddy said, “We discussed the question of alliances, we are not opposed to alliances per se. With whom and to what degree, these are two questions that are yet to be decided.” Though the election for the Telangana assembly would have been held in June 2019, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao decided to go for early polls and dissolved the state assembly earlier in August, necessitating the constitution of a new government. The Election Commission of India is yet to announce the poll schedule.