On Friday, Congress unveiled its initial list of candidates for 39 Lok Sabha constituencies spanning various states including Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Telangana, and Tripura.
Reiterating their confidence in Rahul Gandhi, Congress announced his candidacy from the Wayanad constituency, which he successfully secured in the 2019 elections.
The list of 39 candidates emerged following the deliberations of the Central Election Committee meeting held by the party on Thursday.
Among the notable announcements, six candidates were nominated from Chhattisgarh, with Shivkumar Dahariya standing for Jangir-Champa, Jyotsana Mahant for Korba, Bhupesh Baghel for Rajnandgaon, Rajendra Sahu for Durg, Vikas Upadhay for Raipur, and Tamradhwaj Sahu for Mahasamund.
In Karnataka, Congress declared candidates for seven seats, including DK Suresh for Bengaluru Rural. Other contenders include Anandaswamy Gaddadevara Mat for Haveri, Geetha Shivarajkumar for Shimoga, Shreyal Patel for Hassan, SP Muddahanumegowda for Tumkur, and Vekanataramegowda (Star Chandru) for Mandya.
Kerala saw the announcement of 16 candidates, with Shashi Tharoor set to contest from Thiruvananthapuram.
During the press briefing, KC Venugopal highlighted the diversity among the candidates, noting that out of the 39, 15 belong to the General category while 24 represent SC, ST, OBC, and minority communities.
The party’s second Election Committee meeting is scheduled for March 11 in Delhi to further deliberate on candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
In parallel, the BJP has unveiled its initial list featuring 195 candidates. The Lok Sabha elections are anticipated to take place in April-May this year.
