Lok Sabha polls: Congress' first list of candidates out, Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad

The Congress party released its first list of 39 candidates for the Lok Sabha 2024 polls on March 8. 

Among the prominent names in the list include, Rahul Gandhi, from Wayanad in Kerala, Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel from Rajnandgaon, former minister Tamardwaj Sahu from Mahasamund and Jyotsna Mahant from Korba seats in Chhattisgarh. DK Suresh will contest from Bangalore Rural in Karnataka, K Sudhakaran from Kannur. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal will contest from Alapuzza.

Also Read: Lok Sabha Election 2024: Shashi Tharoor vs Rajeev Chandrasekhar? High-octane poll battle likely in Thiruvananthapuram

The names were approved by the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) which had its first meeting in the national capital on Thursday, March 7.

Overall, the list of nine states has 16 names from Kerala, six names from Chhattisgarh and seven names from Karnataka, four names from Telangana, two names from Meghalaya, and one name each from Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland, and Lakshadweep. 

Out of the 39 candidates declared by Congress, 15 are from the General Caste and 24 are from SC/ST/minorities.

The Congress party is contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as part of the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties.

Also Read  : BJP candidate list 2024: PM Modi, Amit Shah, others feature in first list of 195 candidates | State-wise full list

The BJP has kept a 370 seats target for the party in the upcoming polls and 400 for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The BJP has already released its first list of candidates, comprising 195 names, including those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

In 2019, the Lok Sabha polls were held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. The result, declared on May 23, saw a landslide victory for the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi with 303 seats in the 543-member House.