LS Polls: Congress fields Ajay Rai against PM Modi from Varanasi, Digvijaya Singh from Rajgarh

New Delhi   The Congress on Saturday evening released its fourth list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which includes 45 nominees with the party leaving the Nagaur seat in Rajasthan for the RLP.

As per the list issued by Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal, the party has fielded Ajay Rai against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi. Rai, who joined the Congress in 2012, is a five-time MLA from Uttar Pradesh who is believed to be a local strongman in the Varanasi area.

The list includes one candidate each from West Bengal, Assam, A&N Islands, and Chhattisgarh; two each from J&K, Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Rajasthan; four from Maharashtra; seven from Tamil Nadu; nine from Uttar Pradesh; and 12 candidates from Madhya Pradesh.

Among the prominent names, party veteran and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh has been fielded from Rajgarh, while Congress Vice President Imran Masood has been named the candidate from UP’s Saharanpur.

Karti Chidambaram, the son of former Union Minister P. Chidambaram, has been fielded from Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu, while Danish Ali, who recently joined the party, has been given the ticket from Amroha in UP.

Senior Congress leader Manickam Tagore has been fielded from Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu, while former Union Minister in UPA-2, Kantilal Bhuria, has been nominated from Ratlam (ST) in Madhya Pradesh.

Some of the other names that found mention in Congress’ fourth list include Akhilesh Pratap Singh (Deoria, UP), Piya Roy Chowdhury (Cooch Behar, WB), Kawasi Lakhma (Chhattisgarh), Raman Bhalla (Jammu), Sanjay Sharma (Hoshangbad, MP), Angomcha Bimol Akoijam (Inner Manipur), and Lalbiakzama (Mizoram), among others.

The party, however, is yet to name its nominee from UP’s Rae Bareli, a seat held by Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi since 2004.