Congress Candidates List 2024: The Congress on Friday announced Bhupesh Bhaghel from Chhatisgarh; Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Shashi Tharoor from Kerala; and DK Suresh from Karnataka in its first list of 39 candidates. There are 15 candidates from the general category while 24 names are from Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Minorities.
Ex-Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel will contest the Lok Sabha poll from Rajnandgaon, K C Venugopal to contest from Alappuzha in Kerala, Shashi Tharoor from the existing Thiruvananthapuram seat, and Rahul Gandhi will also contest his Wayanad seat again.
In Chhattisgarh, the party has also fielded Jyotsna Mahant from Korba and Tamradhwaj Sahu from Mahasamund.
Venugopal highlighted the diversity within the candidate selection, stating, "The list has 15 general category candidates while 24 are from the SC, ST, OBC, and minority communities." Congress treasurer Ajay Maken commended the blend of youthful vigour and seasoned experience evident in the list, news agency PTI reported.
CEC Meeting On Congress Candidates For Lok Sabha Election
The Congress's Central Election Committee (CEC) convened on Thursday to finalise its initial list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Despite the meeting being attended by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and former chief Sonia Gandhi at the party's Delhi headquarters, the list's release was deferred, keeping the seats represented by the Gandhis shrouded in suspense.
Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader and participant in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Jaipur, was expected to join the meeting virtually but ultimately did not attend. Meanwhile, the party's screening committee in Kerala recommended Rahul Gandhi's candidacy for the Wayanad seat, where he was the incumbent MP.
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Will Rahul Gandhi Return To Amethi, Priyanka Gandhi Make LS Poll Debut?
With the first list confirming Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Wayanad, whether he would also return to Amethi, his former constituency, remains to be seen.
Amidst the political anticipation, the potential political debut of Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra continues to be uncertain. Despite strong sentiments among Congress workers advocating for Priyanka Gandhi's candidacy in Raebareli, following Sonia Gandhi's departure to contest in the Rajya Sabha polls, no official decision was made.
The Karnataka Congress, still in the process of finalising candidates for 4-5 seats, had not concluded discussions on the Gulbarga seat during the CEC meeting. There were reports of Radhakrishna Doddamani, son-in-law of Mallikarjun Kharge, being a frontrunner for the ticket.
In Delhi, the Congress unit submitted an extensive list of potential candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats. The high command instructed the Delhi unit to streamline the names for the final approval, with discussions revolving around JP Agrawal, Sandeep Dikshit, and Alka Lamba for the Chandni Chowk seat, and Arvinder Singh Lovely and Anil Chowdhary for Northeast Delhi. Rajkumar Chauhan and Udit Raj were under consideration for Northwest Delhi, as per sources.