Lok Sabha polls: Rahul Gandhi, Tharoor among heavyweights named in Congress' 1st list | Key takeaways

Congress announced its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, naming its party heavyweights like Rahul Gandhi, and Shashi Tharoor.

The Indian National Congress (INC) on Friday has released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, scheduled to take place in April-May 2024. Congress named 39 candidates in its first list, including party heavyweights such as Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor and KC Venugopal.

Congress released its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls (PTI) (PTI)

In its first list, the Congress party announced candidates for constituencies in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Telangana, and Tripura. The list of candidates was cleared after the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) cleared the same on Thursday after a crucial meeting.

Check full list of Congress candidates here

After announcing the names, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said, “...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...”

Rahul Gandhi has been fielded from Wayanad while Shashi Tharoor has been named from his home ground of Thiruvananthapuram. Here are the key takeaways from Congress' first list of candidates and the CEC meeting.

Congress 1st list of candidates: Key takeaways

• The Congress party has named 39 candidates in the first list for the Lok Sabha elections, and the list was cleared by the Congress CEC on Thursday. The next Congress CEC meeting will be conducted on Monday, March 11.
• Out of the 39 candidates announced by the Congress party, 15 are from the general category and 24 are from SC/ST/minorities.
• Some of the prominent names announced in the first list by Congress are Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, Bhupesh Baghel, and KC Venugopal. While Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from Wayanad, Kerala, the suspense still remains if he will be fielded from the Amethi seat.
• Another big name in the list is DK Suresh, the brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who will be contesting from the Bengaluru Rural seat in Karnataka.
• Bhupesh Baghel is set to make his debut for the Lok Sabha polls from the Rajnandgaon seat in Chhattisgarh. Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal is contesting from the Alappuzha seat in Kerala.
• The bulk of the candidates have been announced from Kerala, which has a total of 20 seats. Congress has named 16 candidates from Kerala, while the rest four seats are expected to be left for its allies.
• In its first list of candidates, Congress has laid focus on northeastern and southern states. It is expected that the second list will be released early next week, after the Congress CEC meet on Monday.