New Delhi, Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday appointed former MP and ex-Delhi Congress chief JP Aggarwal as the chairman of the steering committee for West Bengal with Rajasthan leader Mahesh Joshi and Maharashtra leader Naseem Khan as the members of the panel.

Congress in-charge for Bengal, Jitin Prasada, state unit chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, CLP Abdul Mannan and Secretary B.P. Singh have been named ex-officio members of the committee.

The screening committee will select a panel of candidates for the ensuing Assembly polls in Bengal that will be finalised by the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress headed by Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress is contesting 92 seats in the state in alliance with the Left and the Indian Secular Front (ISF).

Congress leader Anand Sharma had raised objection to the Congress-Left-ISF alliance in Bengal, following which Chowdhury and Prasada defended it.

Sharma said the core ideology of the party cannot be compromised, adding that the Congress cannot be selective in fighting communalists but must do so in all its manifestations.