By IANS,
New Delhi : Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said he was satisfied with the distribution of party tickets to contest the assembly elections in six states.
“I had made some recommendations to include some younger boys. I am not unhappy with the distribution of tickets,” Rahul Gandhi told reporters after attending the party’s manifesto committee meeting.
He denied the allegations of nepotism and money changing hands in the distribution of tickets and said the candidates were chosen on the basis of merit.
Rahul Gandhi’s statement came in the wake of the controversy surrounding the allegations of nepotism and corruption by senior Congress leader Margaret Alva in the May 2008 Karnataka assembly elections.
Alva Tuesday resigned as general secretary of the party, the morning after meeting Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
In an interview to a TV channel last week, Alva had said some Congress leaders took money to select candidates. “Some people sold tickets in Karnataka, but such candidates lost the elections,” Alva had said.
“I am saying this openly that those who didn’t have knowledge of the constituencies or the local sentiments ended up deciding candidates (in Karnataka). When it comes to their own states, they say we are the leaders, we will decide. Why was this principle not implemented in Karnataka?” she had asked.