Congress' 2nd list: Gaurav Gogoi, Nakul Nath, Vaibhav Gehlot among 43 Lok Sabha candidates

Previously, the Congress had announced 39 candidates, with Rahul Gandhi set to contest from Kerala's Wayanad once again.

New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday announced its second list of 43 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, naming Gaurav Gogoi from Jorhat, Nakul Nath from Chhindwara and Vaibhav Gehlot from Jalore, amid indications that senior leaders like Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath are not entering the electoral fray.

The party has also announced the candidature of Rahul Kaswan, a sitting MP who quit BJP to join Congress, from Rajasthan’s Churu district. In the second list, three sitting MPs have been given tickets while a third sitting MP Abdul Khaleque does not figure in this list. However, it is to be noted that two more seats in Assam are yet to be announced.

Senior leaders like Sachin Pilot and Jitendra Singh are also unlikely to contest if one goes by the two lists released so far. Among the top leaders, only Bhupesh Baghel and Tamradhwaj Sahu have entered the field from Chhattisgarh while TS Singhdeo is learnt to have expressed his reluctance enter the Lok Sabha poll battle.

Congress has announced 39 candidates in the first list while the second list has 43 candidates from six states and union territories. Announcing the candidates, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said the choice of nominees reflect the party’s 'nyay' agenda.

Thirteen of the candidates are OBCs while 10 are Dalits, nine tribals, one Muslim and ten general candidates. Twenty-five candidates are below 50 years while eight are between 50 and 60 years and ten above 60.

With delimitation changing the seats in Assam, Gogoi will be seeking re-election from Jorhat this time while another sitting MP Pradyut Bordoloi is fighting from Nagaon. So far, Congress has announced 12 seats in Assam.

Congress former social media head Rohan Gupta has been fielded from Ahmedabad East as the party announced candidates for seven of the 24 seats it is contesting from in the state of Gujarat. Two seats, Bharuch and Bhavnagar, will see AAP candidates stand as per the I.N.D.I.A. bloc seat-sharing agreement.

Chhindwara MP Nakul Nath is contesting again from his seat. The party has announced ten out of 28 seats it is contesting. Samajwadi Party will contest one seat in alliance with Congress.

In Rajasthan, ten candidates have been announced and it includes Vaibhav, who is contesting from Jalore instead of Jodhpur, where he lost from last time. 

Former state president Ganesh Godiyal is fighting from Uttarakhand’s Garhwal. This was the constituency that Manish Khanduri, who quit Congress to join BJP, fought from last time. Former MP Pradeep Tamta is fighting from Almora while Jot SIngh Guntsola is fighting from Tehri Garhwal.

Ketan Dahyabhai Patel is the candidate from Daman and Diu. The next meeting of the Congress’ Central Election Committee is likely to be held on March 15.