Pallam Raju, Seelam key Congress faces in Andhra

Former Union Ministers M.M. Pallam Raju and J.D. Seelam are among the key candidates announced by the Congress for Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh.

Out of the total 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the Congress released the first list of candidates for 22 seats on Monday.

Pallam Raju will contest from Kakinada, a constituency which he has represented thrice in the past.

J.D. Seelam, a former minister and former Rajya Sabha member, will contest from Bapatla.

K. Bapi Raju, former Chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, will be the party candidate from Narsapur. Former MP Chinta Mohan will contest from Tirupati.

The Congress has also announced 132 candidates for the 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections. State party chief N. Raghuveera Reddy will contest from Kalyandurg.

The candidates for the remaining Assembly seats are likely to be announced in a day or two.

The Congress, which is going alone, drew a blank in the 2014 elections as the party faced a backlash for dividing the state to carve out Telangana state.

--IANS

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