Congress 3rd list: Azharuddin shifts to Tonk, Suresh Kalmadi left out

New Delhi: Sachin Pilot, Ashok Tanwar, Ajit Jogi and Mohammed Azharuddin are in the third list of Congress candidates for the Lok Sabha polls released here on Tuesday. While the party fielded Youth Congress leader Vishwajeet Kadam from the prestigious Pune seat in place of Suresh Kalmadi, it has yet to announce a candidate for Nanded.

The party fielded a large number of sitting MPs and Union ministers in the list of 58 candidates. In Delhi, it renominated Ajay Maken (New Delhi), Sandeep Dikshit (East Delhi), Jai Prakash Agarwal (North-East Delhi), Kapil Sibal (Chandni Chowk) and Krishna Tirath (North-West Delhi).

The party’s central election committee is yet to shortlist nominees in Tamil Nadu, Seemandhra and Telangana. While three PCC chiefs, Sachin Pilot (Ajmer, Rajasthan), Pratap Singh Bajwa (Gurudaspur, Punjab) and Ashok Tanwar (Sirsa, Haryana) will join the electoral battle, AICC general secretary C.P. Joshi has been shifted from Bhilwara, and will now contest from Jaipur Rural.

Mohammed Azharuddin, who had won from Moradabad in UP, had been looking for a safer seat. He will now finally stand from Tonk Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan.