Congress CEC clears 40 faces for LS poll from 11 states

New Delhi, March 7

The central election committee (CEC) of the Congress held its first meeting on Thursday and finalised the names of 40 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, including that of Rahul Gandhi from Kerala’s Wayanad, sources said.

The names of around 60 candidates from 11 states, including Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Manipur, were discussed at the meeting chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge. In attendance at the CEC was former party chief Sonia Gandhi.

The CEC is learnt to have cleared the candidature of Rahul Gandhi from Kerala’s Wayanad, from where the state unit had sent only his name. Former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel is also learnt to have been approved as a candidate from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh.

The party has asked its top leaders, including Rajasthan ex-CM Ashok Gehlot, ex-Deputy CM Sachin Pilot and others to contest the LS poll. The CEC is learnt to have cleared Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor from that seat, while Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal could be fielded from Kerala’s Alappuzha.