The Congress launched its first listing of 39 candidates on Friday.
New Delhi:
In an indication of the Congress’s give attention to the southern states, the place it’s perceived to be in a a lot stronger place than arch-rival BJP, the celebration has determined to discipline KC Venugopal from Alappuzha in Kerala regardless of him being a sitting Rajya Sabha MP.
Mr Venugopal, who had held the seat since 2009, had opted to not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as a result of he was taking part in a key position within the Congress’ total technique for all 543 constituencies. The Congress had ended up shedding the seat to the CPM that 12 months.
When he was requested why he was contesting the Lok Sabha polls once more, the Congress Common Secretary stated on Friday, ”Brother, our precedence is to win the utmost Lok Sabha seats to defeat Narendra Modi within the subsequent elections. Our goal is to win the utmost variety of parliament seats for the Congress celebration.”
Seen as a high organisation man in addition to the right-hand man of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Mr Venugopal has been a three-time MLA and a two-term MP. He was a cupboard minister within the Kerala authorities in addition to a junior minister within the Union authorities twice.
Within the listing of 39 candidates introduced by the Congress on Friday, 16 are from Kerala. Other than Mr Venugopal, one other title that stands out is that of Shashi Tharoor, who can be contesting from Thiruvananthapuram.
Mr Tharoor, who has held the seat since 2004, will face off in opposition to Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar of the BJP, who can be making his electoral debut.
The Congress is in energy in three states within the south – Karnataka and Telangana, the place it has a majority by itself, and Tamil Nadu, the place it shares energy with the DMK.
The BJP, alternatively, doesn’t have a authorities in any southern state. It had additionally gained solely 29 of the 129 seats (130 together with Puducherry). These had come from Karnataka and Telangana, the place it’s anticipated to face a stiffer problem this time round.