LS polls: Congress finalizes candidates for 6 states, announcement soon
The Congress's Central Election Committee (CEC) has reportedly selected candidates for six out of 10 states during its first meeting on Thursday evening for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. According to senior party leader KC Venugopal, the grand old party has chosen candidates from Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Telangana, Delhi, Karnataka, and Lakshadweep. He also confirmed that a "formal announcement will be made very soon."
Why does this story matter?
This development came after Congress's former President Rahul Gandhi revealed Congress's five guarantees to Indians on Thursday. Addressing supporters in Rajasthan's Bhilwara, Gandhi announced a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops, social security for gig workers, and a Rs. 5,000 crore fund for start-ups. With the general elections coming up, the party has begun to finalize candidates, despite the fact that the seat-sharing issue in two critical states, Maharashtra and West Bengal, has not yet been resolved.
RaGa to contest from Wayanad
According to reports, Gandhi will recontest from Kerala's Wayanad, former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel from Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon, and Jyotsna Mahant from Korba. Furthermore, all the key leaders from Chhattisgarh will reportedly be in the fray as well. The party will also reportedly contest 16 of the 20 seats in Kerala, and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor will be among the prospects.
Congress will not field state ministers in Karnataka: Reports
It's also learned that the Congress will not field state ministers in Karnataka amid reports that most ministers were unwilling to contest the general polls. Among the names from the state is Congress chief DK Shivakumar's brother, MP DK Suresh. Party sources have also revealed that a decision has not been taken in Kalburgi, the seat of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
Ongoing discussions and seat-sharing issues
The committee reportedly plans to reconvene on Monday to discuss candidate selections for Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, and Lakshadweep. The Congress has left the Northeast for the next round. In the meantime, the party continues to work on resolving seat-sharing issues in Maharashtra and Bengal—which account for 90 seats combined. Negotiations with Maha Vikas Aghadi allies for Maharashtra's 48 seats are ongoing, while efforts to appease Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee in Bengal persist.
