Congress declares 6 more candidates for Lok Sabha polls
The six candidates that have been announced include 2 in Goa, 3 in Madhya Pradesh, and one in Dadra & Nagar Haveli
The Congress party on Saturday (April 6) announced six more candidates for the Lok Sabha elections – two in Goa, three in Madhya Pradesh, and one in Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
Goa
The party has declared former Naval officer Capt. Viriato Fernandes as the candidate for the South Goa constituency, dropping the sitting MP and former Goa chief minister, 77-year-old Francisco Sardinha, due to opposition to his candidature from the Aam Aadmi Party. As part of the INDIA bloc’s seat-sharing pact, AAP had withdrawn its candidate Venzy Viegas.
It is said that some Goa Congress leaders also wanted the high command to field a fresh face in South Goa to effectively counter BJP’s surprise pick for the constituency, Pallavi Dempo. The anti-Sardinha camp claims that Fernandes will also be able to secure votes in the Hindu clusters of South Goa.
The Congress has announced Ramakant Khalap as its candidate for the North Goa constituency.
Madhya Pradesh
In Madhya Pradesh, the party has fielded Praveen Pathak in Gwalior, the home turf of BJP union minister and former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. Pathak had narrowly lost the 2023 assembly polls from the Gwalior South assembly seat.
In the Khandwa constituency, the Congress has given the ticket to Narendra Patel, effectively benching former union minister Arun Yadav, the son of former deputy chief minister, the late Subhash Yadav. Arun Yadav had won from Khandwa in 2009, but lost both the 2014 and 2019 elections.
There was speculation earlier that the party could field Arun Yadav against Jyotiraditya Scindia in Guna due to the high concentration of Yadav community’s votes in Guna. However, after deciding to field Rao Yadvendra against Scindia, MP Congress leaders said Arun Yadav should be fielded from Khandwa, another OBC-dominated constituency. By finally giving the ticket to Narendra Patel instead, the Congress seems to have decided to woo the OBC Kurmi voters who outnumber the Yadavs in Khandwa. Sources say that Arun Yadav will be deployed for campaigning in OBC-dominated seats.
Satyapal Singh Sikarwar (Neetu) is the Congress party’s choice for the Morena constituency.
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
The party has fielded Ajit Ramjibhai Mahla in the Dadra & Nagar Haveli seat.