Finance
The Congress on Saturday evening released its fourth list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which includes 45 nominees with the party leaving the Nagaur seat in Rajasthan for the RLP.
According to the list released by K.C. Venugopal, the Congress General Secretary (Organisation), the party has selected Ajay Rai from Varanasi to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rai is a five-time Uttar Pradesh MLA who joined the Congress in 2012. He is regarded as a powerful local figure in the Varanasi region.
The list has one candidate from each of the following states: J&K, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam, and A&N Islands; two from each of these states; four from Maharashtra; seven from Tamil Nadu; nine from Uttar Pradesh; and twelve from Madhya Pradesh.
Among the prominent names, party veteran and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh has been fielded from Rajgarh, while Congress Vice President Imran Masood has been named the candidate from UP’s Saharanpur.
Karti Chidambaram, the son of former Union Minister P. Chidambaram, has been fielded from Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu, while Danish Ali, who recently joined the party, has been given the ticket from Amroha in UP.
Senior Congress leader Manickam Tagore has been fielded from Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu, while former Union Minister in UPA-2, Kantilal Bhuria, has been nominated from Ratlam (ST) in Madhya Pradesh.
Akhilesh Pratap Singh (Deoria, UP), Piya Roy Chowdhury (Cooch Behar, WB), Kawasi Lakhma (Chhattisgarh), Raman Bhalla (Jammu), Sanjay Sharma (Hoshangbad, MP), Angomcha Bimol Akoijam (Inner Manipur), and Lalbiakzama (Mizoram) are a few more names that made an appearance in the Congress’ fourth list.
The UP seat of Rae Bareli, which has been held by Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi since 2004, is yet to have a nominee announced by the party.
Source:IANS
