Congress list of 10 leaves out all outgoing MPs, except Singhvi

The other candidates are former Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Prasad Sahu from Jharkhand, L Hanumanthaiah, Syed Naseer Hussain and G C Chandrasekhar from Karnataka, former state minister Rajmani Patel from Madhya Pradesh and former MP Porika Balram Naik from Telangana.

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The party denied a renomination to former Union minister K Rahman Khan from Karnataka, Satyavrat Chaturvedi from MP, Rajani Patil and Rajeev Shukla from Maharashtra and former state president Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu from Jharkhand.

For the two seats in Gujarat, supporters of state Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki and Shaktisinh Gohil were lobbying hard. Former union minister Subodh Kant Sahay, former minister Rajendra Singh and Sahu were in the race from Jharkhand. The JMM has already announced its decision to support the Congress nominee in Jharkhand.

Besides Chaturvedi, senior leaders such as Suresh Pachauri, former Mahila Congress chief Shobha Oza and State Congress president Arun Yadav were in contention for the seat in MP. Chaturvedi, who is retiring, reportedly had the backing of Jyotiraditya Scindia.

The Congress wanted to accommodate one or two seniors in Karnataka, while Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was reportedly against giving tickets to an outsider in an election year. The party kept caste equations in mind while deciding the nominees.

Hanumanthaiah, vice president of Karnataka Congress, is a Dalit writer and poet. He belongs to the Vokkaliga community. Hussain is a Congress spokesperson. The Congress, which has 120 MLAs, can send at least two MPs with 45 votes each.

By fielding a Vokkaliga leader as the third candidate, it has put the JD(S) in a spot. The Congress had earlier turned down JD(S)’s request to back its candidate, businessman B M Farook. The JD(S) will have the difficult choice of backing its own candidate or voting for a Vokkaliga, its main support base.

While the JD(S) is short by 15 votes, the Congress too is short of some votes for the third MP. The party, however, expects to get the support of seven JD(S) rebels and some independents and others.

The Congress’s decision to field a candidate in Telangana is surprising as it is in not a position to win a seat. The ruling TRS has the numbers to get all three of its nominees elected. The AIMIM too has announced its decision to back the TRS candidates.

Congress’s 10

Gujarat: Naranbhai Rathwa, Dr Amee Yagnik
Jharkhand: Dhiraj Prasad Sahu
Karnataka: L Hanumanthaiah, Syed Nasser Hussain, G C Chandrasekhar
Madhya Pradesh: Rajmani Patel
Maharashtra: Kumar Ketkar
Telangana: Porika Balram Naik
West Bengal: Abhishek Manu Singhvi.