The Congress has come out with its first list of 39 candidates for Lok Sabha elections, on Friday.
The list featured prominent names like Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, and Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal.
Tharoor will contest again from Thiruvananthapuram, while Baghel will fight from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh. Jyotsna Mahant has been fielded from Korba, and Tamradhwaj Sahu from Mahasamund.
D.K. Suresh, brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, has been fielded from Bengaluru Rural and Venugopal will contest from Alapuzzha.
कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्री @kharge की अध्यक्षता में आयोजित 'केंद्रीय चुनाव समिति' की बैठक में लोकसभा चुनाव, 2024 के लिए 39 लोकसभा सीटों पर कांग्रेस उम्मीदवारों के नाम घोषित किए गए। pic.twitter.com/jOQk3rycwG
— Congress (@INCIndia) March 8, 2024
Of the 39 candidates that the party announced on Friday, 15 are from the general caste and the remaining from SC/ST/minorities.
“Our priority is to win the maximum Lok Sabha seats to defeat PM Modi in this next elections. Our target is to win the maximum number of Parliament seats for the Congress party," Venugopal said after the announcement of the first list.
"We are in election mode. We are going on an aggressive path in the election campaign. Rahul Gandhi is doing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. It has reached Gujarat. It started in Manipur and it will conclude in Mumbai," he added.
The announcement of the first list of candidates came a day after the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) finalised the names for the elections after having a discussion on over 60 Lok Sabha seats from 11 states and Union territories.
There is speculation that Rahul Gandhi may also contest from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Rae Bareli, a seat which was previously held by Sonia Gandhi.
