In the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been nominated as a candidate from the Wayanad constituency in Kerala. The party unveiled its initial roster of 39 candidates for the elections on Friday.
The announcement of the first list of candidates was made by Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal on Friday, following a meeting of the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) the previous day.
Notably, the initial list did not include candidates from Uttar Pradesh, and it remains uncertain whether Rahul Gandhi will also contest from Amethi, his traditional stronghold.
Rahul Gandhi began his political journey from Amethi in 2004 and successfully retained the seat for three consecutive terms until he was defeated by the BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019. Nonetheless, Gandhi secured a Lok Sabha seat from Wayanad.
Several prominent Congress leaders were featured in the first list, including Bhupesh Baghel, K Muraleedharan, KC Venugopal, and Shashi Tharoor.
In Chhattisgarh, former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was nominated to contest from Rajnandgaon, while Tamradhwaj Sahu, Jyotsna Mahant, and Shivkumar Dehariya were chosen to contest from Mahasamund, Korba, and Janjgir-Champa seats, respectively.
In Karnataka, where the Congress holds power, the party nominated seven candidates, including HR Algur Raju, Anandaswamy Gaddadevara Ma, Geetha Shivarajkumar, M Shreyas Patel, SP Muddahanumegowda, Venkataramegowda, and DK Suresh, to contest from various constituencies.
Additionally, Congress fielded K Muraleedharan from Thrissur, KC Venugopal from Alappuzha, and Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
