It was with much fanfare that Rahul Gandhi had introduced US-style ?primaries? this elections in 15 seats to select Congress candidates. The idea was to find nominees on merit and end both nepotism and the practice of ticket distribution on factional, caste and community lines. But as the results came out, none of them won.
Prominent among those selected through primaries and lost are Gandhi?s confidante Meenakshi Natarajan in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, AICC communication department chairman Ajay Maken in New Delhi and former Delhi PCC chief J P Agrawal in North East Delhi. In the Trinamool Congress wave in West Bengal, heavyweight Somen Mitra was pushed to the fourth spot.
Only 13 ministers, including M Veerappa Moily, Kamal Nath and Mallikarjun Kharge, have made it to the Lok Sabha.
Among the 44 Congress candidates who won, ten candidates, including Rahul Gandhi himself, are from political families ? be it Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi?s son Gourav in Kaliabor or Sushmita Dev, daughter of veteran Congress leader and former union minister Santosh Mohan Dev, from Silchar Lok Sabha seat.
The primary candidate in the state Manas Bora, son of state social welfare minister Akon Bora, lost in Gauhati.
In Bihar, Pappu Yadav?s wife Ranjeet Ranjan won in Supaul.
Cut to Haryana, the lone Congress man standing was Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda?s son and sitting MP Deepender. In Madhya Pradesh, among the two Congress MPs are Jyotiraditya Scindia, son of Madhavrao Scindia.
Ashok Chavan, the former chief minister and son of late Union Home Minister and former Chief Minister S B Chavan, was among the two Congress candidates who won in Maharashtra.
In Punjab, among the three Congress winners are late Chief Minister Beant Singh?s grandson Ravneet Singh Bittu from Ludhiana. In West Bengal, President Pranab Mukherjee?s son Abhijit won from Jangipur, while Mausum Noor , the niece of late Congress veteran A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury, was re-elected from Malda Uttar. The third Congress MP is her uncle Chowdhury?s brother Abu Hashem Khan Chowdhury.
