The Congress announced the 10th and 11th candidate lists on Monday, announcing 32 names in all. The 10th list of 26 candidates comprises 25 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal and one in Maharashtra. Another Congress list of five names was announced later, and a statement issued late evening announced the name of a sitting Karnataka MLA and minister who will contest from Bangalore North.
The first name on the 10th list was that of Mumbai Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, who will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North-West constituency. In a surprise development hours before his candidature was announced, Nirupam was removed from the Mumbai Congress president’s post. Former Union minister Milind Deora, who is contesting from Mumbai South, is the new head of the party’s Mumbai unit.
The first list of candidates announced by the Congress on Monday was the second for West Bengal this election. The party had earlier announced names for 11 constituencies in the state. There are 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, and the Congress has announced 36 names in all so far. According to local leaders, the candidates for the six remaining seats would be announced soon.
The second Congress candidate list for West Bengal has six women and five Muslim candidates. The 25 seats include three of the five seats the party had left last week in the wake of the seat sharing talks going on with the Left Front.
Nepal Mahato, the Congress MLA from Baghmundi constituency in Purulia district, will contest the Purulia LS seat against Trinamool’s Mriganko Mahato and All India Forward Bloc’s Birsingh Mahato.
In its 11th list released late Monday evening, the party announced five candidates from Goa, Chhattisgarh and Daman & Diu.
Ketan Patel, son of former MP Dahyabhai Patel, will contest from Daman & Diu. He was the first Daman district president of the National Students Union of India and the Indian Youth Congress.
Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar will contest from North Goa and former chief minister Francisco Sardinha will fight from South Goa constituencies.
In Chhattisgarh, the Congress has fielded Jyotsna Mahant from Korba and Pratima Chandrakar from Durg.
In a separate statement issued around midnight, the Congress announced yet another name. MLA Krishna Byre Gowda will contest from Bangalore North constituency. He is currently the Minister of Rural Development, Law and Parliamentary Affairs in the HD Kumaraswamy cabinet, representing Byatarayanapura constituency. Gowda has been in office since June 2008.