New Delhi, Aug 1 : The Congress on Thursday evening announced the formation of screening committees for the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir to be held later this year.

"Congress President (Mallikarjun Kharge) has constituted screening committees for the upcoming Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Jammu and with immediate effect," Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal said in a statement.

In Maharashtra, the four-member screening committee is led by Madhusudan Mistry with Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, Mansoor Ali Khan, and Sirivella Prasad as its members. Congress is a key ally in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in the state, aiming to dislodge the MahaYuti government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena.

In BJP-ruled Haryana, the Congress has formed the screening committee under the chairmanship of Ajay Maken. The committee includes Manickam Tagore, Jignesh Mevani, and Srinivas B.V. as its members.

In Jharkhand, where the Congress is part of the ruling alliance led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Girish Chodankar has been named the Chairman of the screening committee with Poonam Paswan and Prakash Joshi as the other members.

In Jammu and Kashmir, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa will head the screening committee which includes Anto Antony, and Sachin Rao as its members.

All general secretaries/in-charges, PCC chiefs, CLP leaders, and AICC secretaries in charge of these states will be ex-officio members of the respective screening committees, the statement said.

The President of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (Varsha Gaikwad) and the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly (Vijay Wadettiwar) will also be ex-officio members of the screening committee for Maharashtra.

On June 21, the Election Commission of India (ECI) kicked off preparations for holding Assembly elections in J&K, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra. As per the poll panel, the revised electoral rolls for these states and the lone Union Territory of J&K will be published by August 20.

/IANS