In its first list of candidates for 39 Lok Sabha constituencies, Congress announced names for seats in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshwadeep, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Telangana, and Tripura. Out of the total 39 candidates, 15 are from Kerala, seven from Karnataka, six from Chhattisgarh, four from Telangana, two from Meghalaya, and one each from Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, and Lakshwadeep.
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal revealed that Rahul Gandhi will again contest from the Wayanad constituency, which he won in 2019. The list of candidates was released after the Central Election Committee meeting on Thursday.
Chhattisgarh saw six candidates announced, with names like Shivkumar Dahariya, Jyotsana Mahant, Bhupesh Baghel, Rajendra Sahu, Vikas Upadhay, and Tamradhwaj Sahu. In Karnataka, names like DK Suresh, Anandaswamy Gaddadevara Mat, Geetha Shivarajkumar, Shreyal Patel, SP Muddahanumegowda, and Vekanataramegowda were announced for seven seats.
The list also includes 16 candidates from Kerala, with Shashi Tharoor contesting from Thiruvananthapuram. The press conference highlighted that out of the 39 candidates, 15 were from the General category and 24 were from SC, ST, OBC, and minorities.
Congress’s second Election Committee meeting will be held on March 11 in Delhi to further discuss candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Meanwhile, BJP has already released its first list of 195 candidates. The Lok Sabha polls are expected to take place in April-May this year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from ANI)