Congress fields CP Joshi from Bhilwara, opts for fresh face over Moily in Chikkaballapur

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday fielded veteran party leader CP Joshi from Rajasthan’s Bhilwara as it declared its ninth list of three candidates and two replacements for the Lok Sabha polls.

The party also opted for youth over experience in Karnataka’s Chikkaballapur constituency, nominating Raksha Ramaiah instead of former Union minister M Veerappa Moily.

The 84-year-old Moily was elected from the Chikballapur constituency twice in 2009 and 2014 but lost in 2019.

Moily had been actively lobbying for the ticket this time but the party has opted for youth in Ramaiah, son of senior Congress leader and former minister M R Seetharam.

While Joshi replaced Damodar Gurjar in Bhilwara, Gurjar was named as the candidate in place of Sudarshan Rawat in Rajsamand.

The party fielded E Thukaram from Bellary (ST) and nominated Sunil Bose from Chamarajanagar (SC).

With this, the total number of candidates declared by the party so far has reached 211.

However, the suspense over the high-profile seats of Amethi and Raebareli continues.

Asked about these two seats of Uttar Pradesh, state Congress chief Ajai Rai had said earlier this week that there was no discussion on these parliamentary constituencies.

“We had conveyed our views on these seats (Amethi and Raebareli) the last time. It is up to the leadership now to take a decision,” he had said.

The Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held in seven phases starting April 19. Wednesday was the last day for filing nominations for the first phase of the elections. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.