Congress CEC Meeting: The CEC meeting chaired by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was attended by party parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, organization general secretary KC Venugopal and many other CEC members. Former party president Rahul Gandhi was also present in the meeting.
Manikam Tagore claimed to win 300 seats
On the announcement of Congress candidates for Lok Sabha elections 2024, party MP Manikam Tagore said, the 4-hour meeting (CEC meeting) has just ended. Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge held a meeting with all the leaders, chief ministers and others of the state. The Congress party is well prepared and we are announcing the candidates strategically. Congress party will fight for victory and INDIA alliance is going to win 300 seats.
CEC finalizes candidates for 12 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal
The names of candidates for 12 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal were finalized in the Congress CEC meeting. Congress has already announced candidates for 82 Lok Sabha seats. The party announced the names of 39 candidates in its first list, while the names of 43 candidates were announced in the second list. TMC chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who broke away from the I.N.D.IA alliance in Bengal, has announced the names of her candidates on all 42 seats.
Discussion of alliance with left party in Bengal
There is news in the Congress CEC meeting that the seats falling in the northern and central parts of West Bengal were discussed. Especially the possibility of an alliance with the Left parties was discussed. A party leader said, in West Bengal we are considering which seats are better for the Congress and on which seats the Left parties are strong. Sources said that in West Bengal, Congress may re-nominate its two sitting MPs Adhir Ranjan Choudhary and Abu Hasim Khan Choudhary. Adhir Ranjan Bahrampur and Abu Hasim Khan are MPs from Malda South.
The name of Rahul Gandhi was also included in the first list of party candidates, who is contesting from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. He also currently represents this area. In the first list of Congress candidates, 15 candidates were from the general category and 24 were from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and minority communities. In the second list of Congress candidates, 10 candidates were from the general category while 33 candidates were from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes and minority communities.
Elections for 18th Lok Sabha begin from April 19
Elections for the 18th Lok Sabha in the country will start from April 19. After this, voting will be held in six more phases on 26 April, 7 May, 13 May, 20 May, 25 May and 1 June. About 97 crore registered voters in 543 constituencies of Lok Sabha will be able to exercise their franchise at 10.5 lakh polling stations.
Also Read: Media persons engaged in election coverage will be able to vote through postal ballot, notification issued