LS polls: Chidambaram chooses not to contest, passes baton to son

New Delhi: The Congress released its fourth list, of 50 candidates, for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding Ghulam Nabi Azad from Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir and giving the Sivaganga seat in Tamil Nadu to P.Chidambaram’s son Karthi. Finance Minister Chidambaram chose to opt out of the Lok Sabha race this year letting his son Karthi take over the mantle at his constituency Sivaganga.

The Economic Times reports: “The passing of baton in Sivaganga caps the intense speculation on Chidambaram’s candidature in the wake of Congress’s bleak prospects in the state owing to its failure to find an ally. Congress fought the last two elections with DMK and reaped a rich tally, disproportionate to its weak organizational muscle in the state.”

It also announced the names of two more candidates in Delhi – Ramesh Kumar from South Delhi and Mahabal Mishra from West Delhi. The list is for some Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi seats and 30 Tamil Nadu seats.

Mani Shankar Aiyar is to contest from Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, while the party has fielded Digvijaya Singh’s brother Lakshman Singh from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh where Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj is the sitting MP.

The party has fielded Kirit Patel in Gandhinagar against BJP leader L.K. Advani.

With inputs from PTI