The Congress leadership in New Delhi on April 2 (Tuesday) announced a list of 17 candidates including five from Andhra Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. It also announced a list of 114 candidates for the Assembly elections in the State.
Besides making official the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y. S. Sharmila’s candidature for Kadapa Lok Sabha seat, the party announced the names of Mallipudi Mangapati Pallam Raju from Kakinada, former APCC president and Congress Working Committee member Gidugu Rudra Raju from Rajahmahendravaram, All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary J.D. Seelam from Bapatla and P.G. Rampullaiah Yadav from Kurnool Lok Sabha constituency.
Mr. Pallam Raju served as the Union Minister for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for Defence in the Congress government at the Centre earlier. He was also a member of the 9th, 14th and 15th Lok Sabha and represented Kakinada constituency.
Mr. Rudra Raju headed the APCC before Ms. Sharmila took over the reins of the Congress in the State. He is a former Member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council and has served as AICC secretary in-charge for Odisha in the past.
Mr. Seelam, a Congress veteran, represented Andhra Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha from 2004 to 2016. He was also Minister of State (Revenue) under the Ministry of Finance. Prior to entering politics, he served as a Karnataka-cadre IAS officer from 1984 to 1999.
