New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday released another list of 16 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The party fielded Vikramaditya Singh from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi. He was fielded against BJP candidate and Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut. Manish Tewari was given a ticket from Chandigarh.
Tewari will contest against BJP's Sanjay Tandon who replaced sitting MP Kirron Kher.
Among the other names announced by the grand old party were Ramji Thakor from Mahesana, Himmatsinh Patel from Ahmedabad East, Pareshbhai Dhanani from Rajkot Lok Sabha seat, Naishadh Desai from Navasari, Vinod Sultanpuri from Shimla, Mohan Hembram from Keonjhar, Anant Prasad Sethi from Bhadrak, Shrikant Kumar Jena from Balasore, Anchal Das from Jajpur, Sashmita Behera from Dhenkanal, Sidharth Swarup Das from Kendrapara, Rabindra Kumar Sethy from Jagatsinghpur, Sucharita Mohanty from Puri and Yasir Nawa from Bhubaneswar.
Notably, Vikramaditya Singh will be replacing his mother, sitting MP Pratibha Singh, as a candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency.
Speaking on the selection process of the Congress Central Election Committee, Pratibha Singh told news agency ANI, "Discussions were held on the two-three names that we shortlisted. It depends on the high command, on Mallikarjun Kharge that what names they approve."
“All our senior leaders believe that this time a young leader should be fielded. So, a consensus has been reached on the name of Vikramaditya (Singh),” she added.
Apart from the Lok Sabha candidate list, the Congress also announced names for the upcoming byelections to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat. The party named Dineshbhai Tulsidas Patel from Vijapur, Rajubhai Bhimanbhai Odedra from Porbandar, Haribhai Govindbhai Kansagara from Manavadar, Mahendrasinh Harisinh Parmar from Khambhat and Kanubhai Pujabhai Gohil from Vaghodia.