Congress announces first list of 39 candidates for general election; Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, March 8

The Congress on Friday fielded its top guns in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, re-nominating Rahul Gandhi from Kerala's Wayanad, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel from Rajnandgaon, and Rahul's closest aide and AICC general secretary organisation KC Venugopal from Alappuzha in the first list of 39 candidates.

Alapuzzha was the only Lok Sabha seat among Kerala's 20 which the Congress-led UDF did not win in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. The CPM had bagged the seat, with the Congress clearly out to wrest it.

In Wayanad, it will be Rahul Gandhi versus Annie Raja, the wife of CPI general secretary D Raja.

The maiden Congress list also features former union minister Tamradhwaj Sahu from Mahasamund (Chhattisgarh); Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar's brother and sitting MP DK Suresh from Bangalore Rural; Kerala Congress chief K Sudhakaran from Kannur in Kerala.

Three-term sitting MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor will again defend his seat, and has been pitched opposite BJP's Rajeev Chandrashekhar, MoS, Electronics and IT.

The Congress Central Election Committee had discussed 60 seats across 11 states on Thursday night and was able to form a consensus on only 39.

The next CEC meeting will be held on March 11.

Asked if Wayanad was the only seat Rahul would contest, Venugopal, who declared the list, was silent.

Venugopal also said top leaders would be fielded in the LS polls as the first list showed.

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