LS polls: Cong holds CEC meeting, finalises candidates for 12 Bengal seats

Congress has finalised the names of candidates for 12 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, sources said on Tuesday.

The finalisation of names was done after Congress held a meeting of its Central Election Committee on Tuesday.

"Discussions took place for Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and West Bengal by the screening committee," said Congress leader Jaivardhan Singh.

The Congress has already announced candidates for 82 Lok Sabha seats. In its first list, the party declared the names of 39 candidates, while in its second list, the names of 43 candidates were announced.

Voting for Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal will be held in all seven phases.

The Trinamool Congress has already announced its candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal. In the previous Lok Sabha polls, the TMC won 22 seats, while the BJP sprung a major surprise, winning 18 seats.

Earlier today, the Congress Working Committee held a detailed discussion on the manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, which has a heavy thrust on the party's 'nyay' agenda and authorised party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to grant it final approval.

Addressing a press conference after the CWC meeting, Congress leaders KC Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh said that the party will build on the momentum of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, during which the party announced five guarantees and a plan has been prepared to take the message of guarantees at the grassroots level.

"The meeting we had today was not just for our manifesto but for our 'nyay patra'. Congress is absolutely ready for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In the meeting today, there were discussions on our agenda. For the last 63 days, Rahul Gandhi has been talking about our five Nyay and has announced 25 guarantees. This is not just a simple manifesto but an important 'nyay patra' so that the people of our country can see a better future," he said.

The meeting of the CWC, the party's highest decision-making body, was held days after the announcement of the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections. The Lok Sabha polls and assembly polls in four states will be held from April 19 to June 1 and the results will be declared on June 4.