The Congress party released its initial list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The candidates were decided during a meeting held by the party's Central Election Committee in New Delhi. Notable figures like Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi, and general secretary KC Venugopal attended the meeting, while Rahul Gandhi joined remotely via Zoom. The party will have another meeting on March 11 to finalise candidates for the remaining states.
In this initial list of 39 candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, 15 fall under the General category, while 24 represent SC, ST, OBC, and minority groups. The candidates span different age groups, with 12 below 50 years, 8 aged between 50 and 60, 12 in the 61-70 age range, and 7 in the 71-76 age group.
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said, "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."
Here are the candidates announced:
From Chhattisgarh:
Jangrir-Champa: Shivkumar Dahariya
Korba: Jyotsana Mahant
Rajnandgaon: Bhupesh Baghel
Durg: Rajendra Sahu
Raipur: Vikas Upadhayay
Mahasamund: Tamrdhwaj Sahu
From Karnataka:
Bijapur: HR Algur
Haveri: Anandaswamy Gaddadevara Math
Shivamogga: Geetha Shivarajkumar
Hassan: Shreyas Patel
Tumkur: SP Muddahanumegowda
Mandya: Venkataramegowda (Star Chandru)
Bangalore Rural: DK Suresh
From Kerala:
Kasaragod: Rajmohan Unnithan
Kannur: K Sudhakaran
Vadakara: Shafi Parambil
Wayanad: Rahul Gandhi
Kozhikode: MK Raghavan
Palakkad: VK Sreekandan
Alathur (SC): Ramya Haridas
Thrissur: K Muraleedharan
Chalakudy: Benny Behanan
Ernakulam: Hibi Eden
Idukki: Dean Kuriakose
Alappuzha: KC Venugopal
Mavelikkara (SC): K Suresh
Pathanamthitta: Anto Antony
Attingal: Adoor Prakash
Thiruvananthapuram: Shashi Tharoor
From Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep (ST): Mohd Hamdullaha Sayeed
From Meghalaya
Shillong (ST): Vincent H Pala
Tura (ST): Saleng A Sangma
From Nagaland
Nagaland: S Supongmeren Jamir
From Sikkim
Sikkim: Gopal Chettri
From Telangana
Zahirabad: Suresh Kumar Shetkar
Nalgonda: Raghuveer Kunduru
Mahbubnagar: Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy
Mahabubabad (ST): Balram Naik Porika
From Tripura
Tripura West: Ashish Kumar Saha
"Our target is to win the maximum number of parliament seats for the Congress party and defeat PM Modi in the upcoming elections," Congress General Secretary KC after the announcement of the names.
