New Delhi, March 18 (IANS) The Congress Tuesday declared its third list of party candidates, fielding former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi from Mahasamund and Vishwajeet Kadam from Pune in place of sitting MP Suresh Kalmadi, who is facing a corruption case related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
The party has fielded cricketer-turned-politician Mohammed Azharuddin from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan. Azharuddin is a sitting MP from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh.
The list of 58 names declared Tuesday included Rajasthan chief Sachin Pilot (Ajmer), Haryana chief Ashok Tanwar (Sirsa) and Punjab chief Partap Singh Bajwa (Gurdaspur).
There was speculation that both Pilot and Tanwar were seeking a change of constituency but both will be contesting from the seats they won in 2009.
Other prominent names in the list from Rajasthan include union minister Chandresh Kumari (Jodhpur), C.P. Joshi (Jaipur Rural) and Jyoti Mirdha (Nagaur).
Joshi is sitting MP from Bhilwara in Rajasthan.
The party has fielded Rao Dharampal from Gurgaon, Rajinder Singh from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh and Srikant Jena from Balasore in Odisha.
The list includes names of several sitting MPs, including five from Delhi.
Ajay Maken will contest from New Delhi, while union ministers Kapil Sibal and Krishna Tirath will be the candidates from Chandni Chowk and North West Delhi respectively.
Former Delhi unit president Jai Prakash Agarwal will fight from North East Delhi, while Sandeep Dikshit, son of former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, will again contest from East Delhi.
The party, however, kept up the suspense as to whom it would field against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Varanasi.
Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala has said the party will put up a formidable nominee against the Gujarat chief minister.
There was intense speculation that Kalmadi, who had won the Lok Sabha elections thrice, would be given a Congress ticket from Pune.
Kalmadi, chief of the 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, is an accused in a corruption case related to the sporting event.
He was arrested for his alleged role in awarding a contract for installing a timing-scoring-result system at an exorbitant cost of Rs.141 crore, allegedly causing a loss of over Rs.95 crore to the public exchequer. He was later released on bail.
The party also replaced Suraj S. Verma with Pankaj Aggarwal at Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
Raju Shrivastava Health Update: The condition of well-known comedian Raju Srivastava, admitted to
Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma and Indian cricketer Virat Kohli are considered one of the count
Pandemonium in Odisha assembly over PESA Act violation
Bhubaneswar, March 18 (IANS) Pandemonium prevailed in Odisha assembly on Wednesday over the
BJP started Jan Aakrosh Yatra after 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', Minister Subhash Garg taunted
Minister of State for Technical Education, Government of Rajasthan, Dr. Subhash Garg reached Bhar
Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has said that if India gets Rishabh Pant to open in white-ball crick
Former Prime Minister of the country Manmohan Singh supported the stand of the Central Government
The superpowers of the world have stood with India on the worsening situation of Corona in India.
Seizure: 1,137 kg of banned raw sea cucumber seized, worth Rs 5.11 crore
About 1,137 kg of banned raw sea cucumber, estimated to be worth Rs 5.11 crore, dumped in the sea
Prabhu gets Advani pat for rail budget (Sidelights)
New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) Veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani seemed the happiest with Railway Ministe
Congress wants Priyanka Gandhi to campaign more: Singhvi
Kolkata, April 26 (IANS) The Congress was "keen and eager" to see party chief Sonia Gandhi's da