The Congress on Saturday announced its candidates in six more seats for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, including the two constituencies in Goa and three remaining seats in Madhya Pradesh.
The party has fielded former Union Minister and former Goa Deputy Chief Minister Ramakant Khalap from North Goa constituency. Mr. Khalap will take on Union Minister and five-time BJP MP Shripad Naik. Mr. Khalap had represented the Panaji Lok Sabha segment, now called North Goa, from 1996-98 on a Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party ticket. He later joined the Congress.
From South Goa, the Congress has fielded Indian Navy veteran Captain (retd.) Viriato Fernandes, dropping the sitting MP Francisco Sardinha. Mr. Fernandes will contest against BJP candidate Pallavi Dempo, an industrialist.
The Congress named candidates for Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, Morena and Khandwa seats. From Gwalior, former Gwalior South MLA Praveen Pathak will take on the BJP’s Bharat Singh Kushwaha, who was fielded after the ruling party denied a ticket to sitting MP Vivek Shejwalkar.
Mr. Pathak, considered a rival of Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia who holds significant influence in the Gwalior-Chambal region, had won the assembly polls in 2018 against the BJP’s Narayan Singh Kushwaha by 121 votes. In 2023, however, Mr. Kushwaha, now a minister in the state government, wrested the seat back by winning by around 2,000 votes.
From Morena, the Congress has named former Sumawali MLA Satyapal Singh Sikarwar against BJP candidate Shiv Mangal Singh Tomar. The seat was held by the current State Assembly Speaker and senior BJP leader Narendra Singh Tomar, who resigned as an MP after being elected an MLA.
Gwalior and Morena are two high-stake seats for the Congress as it hopes to build on its recent Assembly poll performance in the two parliamentary constituencies. In Morena Lok Sabha segment, the Congress had won five out of eight Assembly seats, while in Gwalior the Opposition party won four out of eight Assembly seats.
From Khandwa, the Congress has fielded Narendra Patel against BJP candidate and sitting MP Gyaneshwar Patil. Mr. Patel had unsuccessfully contested the recent Assembly polls from the Badwah seat under Khandwa Lok Sabha segment.
The Congress also announced its candidate from the Union Territory Dadra and Nagar Haveli (reserved for Scheduled Tribe) Lok Sabha seat with Ajit Ramjibhai Mahla slated to contest against the sitting MP and BJP candidate Kalaben Delkar.
Ms. Delkar had won from the constituency on a Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) ticket in the 2021 by-election after her husband and seven-term MP from the seat Mohan Delkar passed away. She, however, joined the BJP last month after the announcement of her candidature by the ruling party.
While the two Goa seats, Gwalior and Morena in MP, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli will go to polls in the third phase on May 7, Khandwa will vote in the fourth phase on May 13.
