Kharge forms poll panel; KJ George in

NT Correspondent

New Delhi: Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday formed a 16-member Central Election Committee (CEC) with Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as its members.

Karnataka Minister KJ George has also been included.

The CEC was constituted days after the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision making body, was recast. Besides Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the other members include veteran party leader Ambika Soni, Madhusudan Mistry, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Salman Khurshid, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Chhattisgarh Deputy CM T.S. Singh Deo, Pritam Singh, Mohammad Jawed, Amee Yajnik, P.L. Punia, Omkar Markam and KC Venugopal.

The development comes ahead of the elections in five states -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.