Nagpur: Maharashra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Ashok Chavan claimed that there is a great demand for party tickets for the Lok Sabha elections. He said there were multiple claimants for each of the 42 seats across the state that were taken up for review in three days of meetings which concluded on Saturday in MumbaiIn a statement released after conclusion of the three-day deliberations, Chavan noted with satisfaction that the party was rearing to go for the general elections and that a Congress government led by Rahul Gandhi was a forgone conclusion.However, none of the Congress leaders the TOI spoke to were sure what purpose the three-day meetings served. For one, AICC in-charge Mallikarjun Kharge, who was supposed to preside over the meetings, did not turn up. However, two of his deputies — Ashish Dua and V Satish — were present.“The exercise was to check the eagerness among probable candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, which are at least five months away. This time, we are not taking any chances and preparing well in advance,” said former minister Naseem Khan, who was present all through the three days of region-wise meetings.A leader from Vidarbha, who did not wish to be named, said the whole exercise was futile as candidates’ lists are never finalized till the last minute in the party. “The race for tickets is seen in every elections. Nothing new. But more intense the race and more the claimants, shows the flip side of it. It speaks of lack of unanimity and possibility of infighting flaring up among aspirants,” the senior leader said.Only names were thrown up and many aspirants claimed tickets largely on caste basis and community divisions. For the Nagpur seat, there were at least five contenders — from seven-term winner Vilas Muttemwar to latest re-entrant into the party Ashish Deshmukh; the others being Vikas Thakre, Praful Gudadhe and Baban Taywade.Youth leader Nitin Kumbhalkar went a step further to suggest that the state unit should propose to party president Rahul Gandhi to contest from Nagpur in case he wanted to contest from two places. Rahul contesting from Nagpur, which is also has RSS headquarters, would send a signal that the Congress was willing to take on the RSS and BJP strongly, he said.

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