Karti Chidambaram (L) with father P Chidambaram in Chennai. Former NCP leader Tariq Anwar to fight from Katihar in Bihar25 Mar 2019 | 7:18 AMNEW DELHI:After dithering for days, the Congress today fielded Karti Chidambaram, the son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram, from the Sivaganga parliamentary seat in Tamil Nadu.
[ + read story ] Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 24
After dithering for days, the Congress today fielded Karti Chidambaram, the son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram, from the Sivaganga parliamentary seat in Tamil Nadu. His name featured on the party’s ninth list of 10 candidates.
Karti, who was arrested last year, spent nearly 20 days in prison following a CBI probe in an alleged case of corruption. He later got protection from arrest that has been extended from time to time.
Karti is accused of engineering government clearance for foreign investment worth Rs 300 crore in television firm INX Media and also in the Aircel Maxis deal in exchange for bribe while his father was the Finance Minister.
It’s unclear what weighed on Congress’ mind while approving the candidature of Karti from Sivaganga, considering he had lost the seat in 2014, finishing a distant fourth behind AIADMK, DMK and BJP candidates. P Chidambaram, a seven-time MP from Sivaganga, canvassed aggressively for his son but could not boost his prospects.
The ninth list also names former NCP leader Tariq Anwar as the party candidate from Katihar in Bihar. Anwar recently quit the NCP, which is bound to be riled by his nomination. The NCP had been in touch with the RJD-Congress alliance in Bihar for the Katihar seat. But that has not happened.
Another big name on the list is BK Hariprasad’s. A former AICC general secretary and sitting Rajya Sabha MP, he has been fielded from Bangalore South in Karnataka. The Congress has also fielded Haji Farooq Mir from Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, which goes to polls in the first phase of elections on April 11.
The list features three candidates from Bihar, four from Maharashtra and one each from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and JK. The Congress has so far declared 228 candidates.
25 Mar 2019 | 7:06 AMISLAMABAD:Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered a probe into reports of abduction, forced conversion and underage marriages of two teenage Hindu girls in Sindh province and to take immediate steps for their recovery, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday.
25 Mar 2019 | 7:07 AMPATIALA:In Punjab, the annual income of households run by women employed in the fields, either on contract or as casual labour, is an abysmal Rs 77,198, reveals a study by Prof Gurinder Kaur and Assistant Professors Jyoti, Dr Dharampal and Dr Veerpal Kaur of Punjabi University.
25 Mar 2019 | 7:09 AMLUCKNOW:Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav will contest from Azamgarh, while senior leader Mohammad Azam Khan will be the SP-BSP-RLD candidate from Rampur.
25 Mar 2019 | 7:06 AMJAMMU:Another soldier was killed in ceasefire violation in Poonch district today, taking the toll to three in a week as Pakistan kept targeting Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC).
25 Mar 2019 | 7:16 AMSHIMLA:As many as 17 students were injured, seven of them seriously, in a clash between ABVP and SFI activists at a ground near Potterhill, close to the Himachal Pradesh University campus, today.
25 Mar 2019 | 7:17 AMNEW DELHI:The CBSE will introduce artificial intelligence (AI), early childhood care education and yoga as new subjects in the school curriculum from the upcoming academic session, an official said.
25 Mar 2019 | 7:17 AMMUMBAI:Five Indians, who spent over 14 months in a Greek jail after their cargo ship was detained on charges of carrying explosive material, arrived in Mumbai this morning.
25 Mar 2019 | 7:05 AMPANAJI: The Goa government has ordered an inquiry into reports that a “purification ritual” was conducted on Saturday at the state-run Kala Academy here, where the body of former chief minister Manohar Parrikar was kept.