Lok Sabha elections: Congress releases 2nd list with 43 candidates
What's the story
The Congress on Tuesday unveiled its second list of 43 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. The list features prominent names like Gaurav Gogoi, Nakul Nath, and Vaibhav Gehlot. Notably, 33 candidates are from Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, or minority communities. This comes after the Congress's poll panel met on Monday to finalize candidates, following the release of its initial list.
Congress's second list
Gogoi to contest from Jorhat, Nakul from Chhindwara
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal announced the candidates across various states, including Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan as well as the union territory of Daman and Diu. Gaurav Gogoi will be contesting from Assam's Jorhat constituency, while Kamal Nath's son, Nakul, will contest from Chhindwara. Earlier, the Congress had released the names of 39 candidates from the upcoming general elections.
Congress's first list
39 candidates named in first list
Among the prominent faces in the first list is senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who will contest from Kerala's Wayanad constituency again. Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has been nominated from Rajnandgaon, while former state minister Tamradwaj Sahu will contest from Mahasamund. Additionally, Venugopal will contest from Alappuzha in Kerala, while Shashi Tharoor was renominated from Thiruvananthapuram.
Congress chief's poll plan
Kharge may not contest Lok Sabha elections
Earlier in the day, NDTV reported that Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge might not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The report, quoting party veterans, said that Kharge needs to focus on "larger responsibilities" rather than engaging in personal political campaigning. As of now, Kharge is the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha.He still has four years left in the House.
Seat-sharing
Ongoing discussions and seat-sharing issues
The Congress's CEC reportedly plans to reconvene soon to discuss candidate selections for the remaining states. The party will hold discussions on the Northeast states during the next round of meetings. In the meantime, negotiations with Maha Vikas Aghadi allies for Maharashtra's 48 seats are ongoing, while efforts to placate Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee in Bengal persist.