UP: Cong gears up for 1st phase

With no immediate signs of a formal fourth front for Uttar Pradesh elections taking shape, the Congress party on Monday began the candidate selection process for the first phase of the assembly polls by constituting a central scrutiny committee.

Senior party leaders R K Dhawan and V Narainswamy are members of the committee, which has All India Congress Committee general secretary Ashok Gehlot as convenor.

Gehlot said Pradesh Congress Committee chief Salman Khursheed and CLP leader Pramod Tiwari are also on the committee. The eight zonal in-charges of the party will be participating in the committee meetings when their regions will come up for discussion, he said.