The Congress party has announced its first list of 124 candidates for the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections shceduled for May 2023.
“Here is the first list of Congress candidates finalised by the CEC for the forthcoming Karnataka assembly elections,” the party said on Twitter as it shared the list of the candidates.
The first list includes the names of former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, as well as State Party President DK Shivakumar. The party has opted to field the former CM from the Varuna assembly seat in Mysuru, his native constituency, and KPCC Chief DK Shivakumar from Kanakapura.
“The CEC has selected the following persons as Congress candidates for the forthcoming elections to the Legislative Assembly of Karnataka,” the AICC press release said.
The list also has the names of several Congress leaders, namely Satish Jarkiholi from Yemkanmardi, Lakshmi Hebbalkar from Belgaum Rural, Priyank Kharge from Chitapur, Rizwan Arshad from Shivajinagar, Dinesh Gundu Rao from Gandhinagar, Tanveer Sait from Narasimharaja, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan from Chamrajpet, former Deputy CM G Parameshwara from Koratagere, and former Minister KH Muniappa from Devanahalli, among various others.
On March 17, the Congress party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) met in Delhi, with Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge presiding over the meeting, to approve the first list of candidates.
Rahul Gandhi and other prominent leaders were also present. Following the Aam Aadmi Party’s release of its initial list, which included 80 candidates, the Congress became the second party to announce its contenders for the crucial Karnataka elections.
As of now, the Election Commission has yet to reveal the assembly poll dates.
