State district presidents would most likely be announced around mid-July, senior Congress leader and the party’s Haryana in-charge B.K. Hariprasad said on Wednesday.

The process was kicked off in the first week of June by Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. The AICC and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) observers had begun the consultations in June second week to shortlist the panel of candidates. 

No set-up at district level

The party does not have an organisational set-up in place at district and block levels in Haryana for over more than a decade now.

Mr. Hariprasad told The Hindu that observers had shortlisted six names for each district after consultations and submitted them to the party’s general secretary (organisation). “The general secretary (organisation) would now hold meetings with these observers before finalising the name,” he said.

In a shift from the tradition wherein the district chiefs were appointed in consultation with the PCC president and the Congress Legislature Party leader, the party this time appointed observers to make the process transparent. 

Though the State has 22 districts, Mr. Hariprasad said the number of chiefs could be more than 30 with a few districts having separate posts of urban and rural presidents. Ambala district will have three presidents, one each for the cantonment, urban and rural areas.

Important factors

“Caste and competence will be important factors. The Parliamentary constituencies of Ambala and Sirsa, for example, are reserved for the Scheduled Castes, therefore, a candidate from the same caste category would be given priority. Similarly, Jats and Backward Castes would be the prioritised for the areas dominated by their castes,” he said.