New Delhi: The Congress election committee, in its very first meeting late last evening, has finalised most candidates for six of ten states it was considering.
“A formal announcement will be made soon,” said senior party leader KC Venugopal when the meeting finished close to midnight.
“We finalised seats from Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Lakshadweep… The procedure is going on, formal announcement will be made very soon,” Venugopal told reporters.
The party will also contest 16 of the 20 seats from Kerala and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor will be among the candidates, sources said.
In Karnataka, the Congress will not field state ministers, sources said, amid reports that most ministers are unwilling to contest the national elections.
Two ministers have gone public with their reservations. Only one minister could be in the running if he decides to contest, sources said.
Among the candidates from the state is state party chief DK Shivakumar’s brother, party MP DK Suresh. No decision has been taken on Kalburgi, the seat of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
The committee will meet again on Monday.