The Congress party released its third list of candidates for the upcoming Parliamentary elections, holding back no punches in its strategy to counter the rising anti-incumbency wave being predicted across the country.
The 58 candidates declared on Tuesday evening included chiefs of state units of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab – Sachin Pilot (Ajmer), Ashok Tanwar (Sirsa) and Partap Singh Bajwa (Gurdaspur).
To distance itself from corruption issues, the party denied a ticket to Suresh Kalmadi, who is facing charges in the Commonwealth Games scam. Vishwajit Kadam is being fielded from Pune in Kalmadi’s place. Kadam is the son of Maharashtra minister Patangrao Kadam.
In Chhattisgarh, former chief minister Ajit Jogi has been fielded from Mahasmund and prominent tribal leader Phulo Devi Netam will contest from Kanker. Netam was injured in last year’s Maoist attack on Congress leaders in Bastar region.
AICC general secretary C P Joshi will contest the elections from Jaipur (Rural) instead of Bhilwara, the seat he represents in the outgoing Lok Sabha.
Former Indian Test cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin will shift to Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan. He will leave his Moradabad seat, as there appears to be considerable resentment against him in the western Uttar Pradesh town.
Doctor-turned-politician Jyoti Mirdha and Union Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch have been re-nominated from Nagaur and Jodhpur, respectively. Katoch was keen to shift to Himachal Pradesh but had faced stiff opposition from Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Daughter of Maharaja Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur, Katoch is married into the royal family of Kangra in Himachal Pradesh.
Union Ministers Ninong Ering, Dinsha Patel and Srikant Jena have been re-nominated from Arunachal East, Kheda and Balasore constituencies, respectively.
Former Goa chief minister Ravi Naik will be the Congress candidate from North Goa, while Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco has been fielded from South Goa.
The latter seat is currently represented by Francisco Sardinha. Two Maharashtra ministers Sanjay Deotale and Rajendra Gavit have been fielded from Chandrapur in Vidarbha and Palghar in Konkan, respectively.