Congress released the first list of Lok Sabha candidates to contest in 39 seats. The list includes high profile names like former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, and Dr. Shashi Tharoor.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will again contest from Wayanad, a seat won by him in 2019. AICC general secretary KC Venugopal will contest from Allapuza. Congress Working Committee special invitee Ch Vamshi Chand Reddy will contest from Mahbubnagar. Vamshi is also the AICC secretary working in the office of AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal in New Delhi. Venugopal is currently Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan. By fielding the most powerful leader after Gandhis, Congress has given a strong message to all senior leaders who are shying away from contesting elections due to fear of defeat.
Of the total 39 candidates announced, 16 are from Kerala, seven from Karnataka and six from Chhattisgarh, four from Telangana, two from Meghalaya and one each from Tripura, Nagaland, Lakshadweep and Sikkim.
Among these 39 candidates, 24 candidates are from scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, OBC and minority communities while 15 are from general category.
Big guns in the fray
Among big guns, former chief minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel will be contesting from Rajanandgaon while former home minister of Chhattisgarh Tamradjwaj Sahu have been given ticket from Mahasamund. This will put pressure on other state chiefs and former chief ministers to contest the Lok Sabha elections including Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot.
“This is a do or die situation for Congress. The party should not leave any stone unturned as the future of the party will depend on the performance in the Lok Sabha elections. All big leaders of the party should fight it out at the Lok Sabha polls,” said Raghuram Jayaswal, political analyst.
Age profile of Congress candidates
As as 12 of them are aged below 50 years, 8 aged between 50 and 60 years, 12 between 61 and 70 years and seven between 71 and 76 years age. “It's a mixture of experienced, youngsters, NSUI and Youth Congress leaders who have been working at the ground level.
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