Kapil Sibal's campaign poster for the Lok Sabha polls
Rahul Gandhi's plan to hold US-style primaries to democratize the selection of Congress candidates in some seats across the country seems to have hit a
khaas aadmi bump. The constituencies of Union Ministers Kapil Sibal and Krishna Tirath have been dropped from the list, reportedly after some resistance.
The ministers will not have to compete for their candidature in the national election after all, though the Congress had a day ago named Kapil Sibal's Chandni Chowk and Krishna Tirath's North-west Delhi in the list of 16 constituencies chosen for the primaries to be held in February.
Ajay Maken, who is also a Delhi MP, declared however that he had requested the party to "include my constituency for primaries so that the common man can choose their candidate."
The choice of a high-profile seat like Chandni Chowk, held by Mr Sibal for two terms, had surprised many but sources said Mr Gandhi had wanted seats held by ministers and party MPs to be thrown open to send out a stronger message of transparency.
The decision has now changed, say sources. All seven MPs of Delhi will now be consulted before two seats are chosen for the primaries that Rahul Gandhi believes will bring honest competition to a process marred by lobbying and nepotism.
Mr Sibal may not have warmed up to the primaries but he has started preparing for the Lok Sabha polls with his "Aapka Apna Sibal (your own Sibal)" campaign that as an Aam Aadmi Party touch but leaves out the Congress' hand symbol. Mr Sibal has also apparently borrowed Mr Kejriwal's winning idea of using auto-rickshaws to spread his message.
Reports suggest Mr Kejriwal is inclined to contest in Chandni Chowk against Mr Sibal if he decides to enter the national poll battle.
After Congress' shockingly poor show in Delhi and three other states that went to polls in November-December, Rahul Gandhi, the Congress number two, had promised to draw lessons from the AAP's success and "change the party in ways you can't imagine."