Congress releases first lists of candidates; Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad

The Congress on Friday released its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, naming 36 nominees from nine states, including senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, who will contest from Kerala's Wayanad again.

The Congress has named six candidates from Chhattisgarh, including former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel from Rajnandgaon and Tamrdhwaj Sahu from Mahasamund, and six from Karnataka, including sitting MP D.K. Suresh - the brother of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar - from Bangalore Rural, and 15 from Kerala, including Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram.

The list also includes two from Meghalaya, including sitting Shillong MP Vincent Pala, as well as the sole seats in Nagaland and Sikkim, four from Telangana, and one from Tripura.

The candidates were named a day after the meeting of the party's Central Election Authority held here on Thursday evening.

The Congress has put on hold naming candidates for three seats - two in Karnataka and one from Telangana.