By IANS,
New Delhi : With Sonia Gandhi set to be formally re-elected Congress president Friday, the focus has shifted to the state units, who have been advised to elect their chiefs and other office bearers and complete the process by Sep 17.
Central Election Authority (CEA) chairman Oscar Fernandes said Thursday that states had been suggested to conduct elections for the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief, vice president, treasurer, state executive and All India Congress Committee (AICC) members by Sep 17.
He said that the exact schedule of the election for each state will be decided by the state returning officer but they had been advised to broadly stick to the date of Sep 17.
He said that a separate schedule would be announced for Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar to complete the election process as discussions about these states were still pending.
Election of PCC chiefs is likely to be a strenuous exercise for the party as there are several claimants to the post in almost every state. Party sources said that the state Congress committees had the option to pass a resolution leaving the decision to Sonia Gandhi.