(Image source from: Twitter.com/ani_digital)
Congress announces first list for Lok Sabha Polls:- On March 8th, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) unveiled its initial list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Telangana. This selection was part of the party's nationwide list and included 39 candidates approved by the Central Election Committee. The four candidates announced were Suresh Kumar Shetkar, Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy, Kunduru Raghuveer Reddy, and Balram Naik Porika. They will be contesting in the Zahirabad, Chevella, Nalgonda, and Mahabubabad constituencies, respectively. In the previous 2019 polls, the Congress secured three out of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Meanwhile, the BRS won nine seats and the BJP managed to secure four seats. The AIMIM, on the other hand, retained Hyderabad.
After losing power to the Congress in the state, the BRS recently faced the loss of three sitting MPs. Two of them joined the BJP, while one defected to Congress. Additionally, the Congress has announced six candidates from Chhattisgarh, including former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Tamrdhwaj Sahu. In Karnataka, six candidates were named, including sitting MP D.K. Suresh, who is the brother of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. Lastly, the Congress revealed 15 candidates from Kerala, which included Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor contesting from Thiruvananthapuram. Pala, along with the only seats in Nagaland and Sikkim, has four seats from Telangana and one from Tripura.
कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्री @kharge की अध्यक्षता में आयोजित 'केंद्रीय चुनाव समिति' की बैठक में लोकसभा चुनाव, 2024 के लिए 39 लोकसभा सीटों पर कांग्रेस उम्मीदवारों के नाम घोषित किए गए। pic.twitter.com/jOQk3rycwG
— Congress (@INCIndia) March 8, 2024
Suresh Kumar Shetkar was a Member of Parliament for Zahirabad and served in the 15th Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2014. In 2021, he was elected as the senior vice president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee. From 2004 to 2009, he also held the position of MLA from Narayankhed. Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy represented the Kalwakurthy constituency in Mahbubnagar district, Telangana, as an MLA from 2014 to 2018. During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he stood as a candidate of the Indian National Congress party in the Mahbubnagar constituency and secured the third position.
P Balram Naik served as a member of the 15th Lok Sabha from June 2009 to May 2014, representing the Mahabubabad parliamentary constituency in the former Andhra Pradesh. He was appointed as a minister of state in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet in October 2012. K Raghuveer, the son of senior Congress leader K Jana Reddy, has been granted the party's ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Nalgonda.
In the first list of candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Congress CEC has selected 39 names.
— Congress (@INCIndia) March 8, 2024
• 15 candidates are from the General category
• 24 candidates are from SC, ST, OBC and minority groups
• 12 candidates are below 50 years of age
• 8 candidates are in the… pic.twitter.com/YbH1dVuaLb
