Congress to announce candidates for 2012 UP elections a year in advance

NEW DELHI: In an attempt to seize the political initiative ahead of the 2012 UP elections, Congress has decided to announce its candidates about a year in advance.
"For the first time in history, Congress will come out with its candidate list much ahead of the elections," party general secretary Digvijay Singh told reporters on Wednesday.
Already party observers from different parts of the country have descended on the state to assess and interview the probables.
According to one such observer, by March 2011 they have been asked to make a short list of three probables for each of the state's 403 assembly constituencies.
Though winnability is the ultimate arbiter the party has put an emphasis on age as well. "Other things being equal, the focus will be on youth," said an observer.
Singh, who is in charge of UP, said that this would be a new experiment for the party.
The Congress plan to announce candidates a year ahead, observers believe, is borne out of a practical necessity. Since the party's organisational structure has practically been eroded in the 20-odd years out of power in the state, the candidates will have time to put together a network of workers in a year.
The party seems to have realized that if it has to repeat the success of the 2009 parliamentary elections in the state, giving the candidates enough time is the only way out.