Congress Likely To Release First Lok Sabha Candidates List Today; Suspense Over Rahul Gandhi's Seat (image@RahulGandhi)

The Congress party is expected to release first list of Lok Sabha candidates today. The Central Election Committee (CEC) of Congress met on Thursday to finalize the candidates. Keeping up the suspense on the candidates, the party did not reveal the names of candidates on the same day.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and the former party chief, Sonia Gandhi attended the meeting at party headquarters in Delhi. Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Jaipur was supposed to join the meeting, but could not.

The grand old party’s screening committee from Kerala’s Wayanad suggested Gandhi to be contest again from Wayanad, of which he is the sitting MP. Media report suggest that Rahul Gandhi will once again contest from Wayanad. It is not yet clarified whether he will return to his old turf, Amethi, besides contesting from Wayanad.

The speculations on whether Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make her political debut is also looming around. This comes when there is a strong sentiment among the Congress workers for Priyanka Gandhi to contest from Raebareli, after her mother Sonia Gandhi left the seat to contest the Rajya Sabha polls.

It is highly expected that Shashi Tharoor will contest from Thiruvananthapuram once again. The party is likely to field former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel, from Rajnandgaon constituency. The party may also field Tamradhwaj Sahu from Durg, Jyotsna Mahant from Korba, and Shiv Dehariya from Janjgir – Champa constituency of the state. In Karnataka, where Congress is in power, is yet to decide on 4-5 seats.

As per media report, Delhi Congress unit has put forward a long list of candidates who are considered for the seven Lok Sabha seats. It is said that the high command directed the Delhi unit to shortlist some of the names and come back for the final nod.