Bhubaneswar, Feb. 16: The Congress is keen to announce the names of its Lok Sabha candidates from Odisha ahead of its rivals.

Party sources said that the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) had already sent the names of probable candidates for the state’s 21 Lok Sabha seats after initial scrutiny.

Though the central election committee (CEC) of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) is likely to take a final decision on the candidates at its meeting in Delhi tomorrow, sources said all the six sitting party MPs from the state were almost certain to get renominated. A consensus on the rest of the seats is expected at the CEC tomorrow.

“The announcements about candidates will be made soon. We are undertaking the exercise in advance to reduce chances of friction within the party and give ourselves sufficient time for campaigning,” said a member of the newly constituted state election campaign committee of the party.

Sources said PCC president Jaydev Jena today met senior party leaders in Delhi for a discussion before the finalising the candidates’ list.

“The central leadership will take a call after eliciting the views of Jena,” said a senior leader adding that care would be taken to strike a balance between winnability of candidates and their factional loyalties.

“There should be no difficulty in announcing the names on which there are no differences,” said leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh.

Rampant factionalism in the state unit continues to be a worrying factor for the party. The resignation of disgruntled former MLA Umesh Swain is the latest manifestation of the growing factional rivalry within the party. In resignation letter addressed to AICC president, Swain issued a grim warning saying that Congress was heading for disaster in Odisha.

Earlier, former Congress MP Soumya Ranjan Patnaik had to be expelled from the party following an open rebellion against the state leadership. Another senior leader and a member of the newly constituted campaign committee Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra is also said to be unhappy with the way the party was being run.

However, Jena asserted that the party was fully united and the departure of a few indisciplined leaders would not affect its electoral prospects.

“Such developments won’t affect us. We are working as a team to bring Congress back to power,” said Jena.

In a related development, suspended BJP MLA from Bonai, Bhimsen Choudhury today joined the Congress as an associate member at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi. In the recent Rajya Sabha elections, Choudhury had voted for Congress candidate Ranjib Biswal.

The BJP, however, dismissed the development as a non-event. “People know his character. His departure will not make any difference to the BJP, which is a national party,” said senior party leader Jual Oram.

The saffron party is likely to finalise names of its Lok Sabha candidates on February 20, while the fledgling Aaam Admi Party today announced prominent farmer leader Lingaraj as its Lok Sabha candidate from Bargarh.