Lok Sabha polls: Congress releases first list of 39 Lok Sabha candidate; party says "priority is to win maximum number of seats"

New Delhi [India], March 8 : The Congress released its first list of 39 candidates for Lok Sabha elections on Friday with party General Secretary KC Venugopal asserting that his party's priority is to win the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats.
"Our priority is to win the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats to defeat PM Modi in the next elections. Our target is to win the maximum number of parliament seats for the Congress party," Venugopal told ANI.
The names have been announced for Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshwadeep, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Telangana, and Tripura.
Of the total 39 candidates announced, 16 are from Kerala, seven from Karnataka and six from Chhattisgarh, four from Telangana. Two from Meghalaya and one each from Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim and Lakshwadeep.
Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal informed that senior party leader Rahul Gandhi will again contest from the Wayanad constituency, the seat won by him in 2019.
The list of 39 candidates was released after the party held its Central Election Committee meeting on Thursday.
A total of six seats were announced from Chhattisgarh, Shivkumar Dahariya has been fielded from Jangir-Champa, Jyotsana Mahant will contest from Korba, Bhupesh Baghel has been fielded from Rajnandgaon, Rajendra Sahu from Durg, Vikas Upadhay from Raipur, Tamradhwaj Sahu from Mahasamund.
Following the announcement of his candidature for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel thanked the party's high command and said that the fielded candidates would live up to the trust shown by the party.
"I thank the Party High Command for having faith in me. We will live up to the trust shown in all of us. It is a good list of candidates," Baghel told ANI.
Congress leader Vikas Upadhyay will contest from the Raipur Lok Sabha seat.
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"Rahul Gandhi ji's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will reap benefits for the Congress party. BJP had lied to the public and garnered their votes in Chhattisgarh. This election will determine the direction in which India will head," he said.
On his candidature from Durg, Congress leader Rajendra Sahu said, "I thank the party High Command for giving me the opportunity."
Congress leader Jyotsana Mahant, who is set to contest from the Korba parliament seat in Chhattisgarh, said, "I don't think of it as a challenge. I am a common person who will fight in the elections based on the work that was done by our government."
Also, Congress announced names for seven seats in Karnataka, including DK Suresh contesting from Bangalore Rural.
A total of 16 candidates have been announced from Kerala, including Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram.
Tharoor, who will contest against the BJP's Rajeev Chandrashekhar in Thiruvananthapuram, thanked the grand old party on Friday for the opportunity to 'defend his seat' after he was named a candidate for a seat he has held for three terms.
He further said that the "BJP is going to find it very tough to even repeat the 303 they had".
He also pointed to the leaders jumping ship ahead of the polls and said that those shifting to other parties doesn't mean that there is some conflict or confusion; rather, "individuals have their own ambitions in politics."
"I am honored and humbled that the Congress party has given an opportunity to defend my seat. I have had the privilege of serving the people of Thiruvananthapuram for 15 years and I look forward to an opportunity to continue this process of service once more," Shashi Tharoor said while addressing the media after the party's announcement.
Some of the party's prominent names fighting elections in Kerala are K Suresh from Mavelikara, the party's general secretary, KC Venugopal, who will contest from Alappuzha. Kerala Congress President K Sudhakaran will battle from Kannur.
Anto Antony will contest from Pathanamthitta. He will face Congress veteran AK Antony's son Anil Antony, from Pathanamthitta.
S Supongmeren Jamir will contest from the Nagaland Lok Sabha constituency in the upcoming General elections.
In Karnataka, Anandaswamy Gaddadevara Mat will contest from Haveri, Geetha Shivarajkumar has been fielded from Shimoga, Shreyal Patel from Hassan, SP Muddahanumegowda from Tumkur and Vekanataramegowda (Star Chandru) from Mandya.
Addressing the press conference, KC Venugopal said, "Out of these 39 candidates, 15 are from General category and 24 are from SC, ST, OBC, and minorities."
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Congress leader Balram Naik Porika will contest Lok Sabha polls from Mahabubabad-ST constituency.
"Congress is a party for the welfare of the poor. BRS and BJP could not do any development in the Mahabubabad area. I will work for the development of the area," he said.
Congress leader K Sudhakaran, who is set to contest from the Kannur Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, said, "We will face the elections as a team and win all 20 seats in Kerala. CPM is facilitating the BJP in Kerala. Padmaja's entry into the BJP was facilitated by Pinarayi Vijayan. The problem is not her departure from the party. We are saddened because K Karunakaran's daughter left the Congress party."
The Congress party's second Election Committee meeting will be held on March 11 in Delhi to discuss the candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP has already released its first list of 195 candidates.
On the release of Congress's list for the Lok Sabha elections, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar said, "All the best to them (Congress). Rahul Gandhi cannot contest from any other seat anywhere in the country. He can only come to Wayanad and we all know why. I think the people of Kerala this time will not give the Congress the mandate they gave in the last election. The people of India want a third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi."
On the release of the first list of Congress candidates for the Lok Sabha elections 2024, Congress leader Pawan Khera said, "There are such names which show that the Congress party is fighting this election only to win."
Earlier today, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar met Mallikarjun Kharge.
After coming out of the meeting, Shivakumar said, "I met Mallikarjun Kharge Ji as he's our national president, and I am the state President, we discussed and spoke about organizations as for ticket concerns for Lok sabha, we have discussed 50 per cent seats. Ultimately, the party high command will decide. Mallikarjun Kharge himself has to decide whether he'll contest or not because we have proposed only a single name for him. He has to travel around the country to ultimately and he will decide ultimately."
On the Dalit Chief Minister issue in Karnataka, he said, "There is nothing wrong is demanding or aspiring for any post."
The Lok Sabha polls are likely to be held in April-May this year.