The Congress unveiled its initial list of 39 candidates spanning eight states and one Union Territory for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Former party chief Rahul Gandhi is set to compete from Wayanad in Kerala for a second term, with party stalwart KC Venugopal contesting from Alappuzha in the same state.
Meanwhile, sitting MP Shashi Tharoor is geared up for his fourth consecutive run from Thiruvananthapuram, a seat he has held since 2009. Notably, former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and ex-minister Tamardwaj Sahu will compete from Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund, respectively, in Chhattisgarh, while Jyotsna Mahant is set to contest from Korba.
The Congress has allocated 16 candidates in Kerala, 7 in Karnataka, 6 in Chhattisgarh, 4 in Telangana, 2 in Meghalaya, and 1 each in Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, and Lakshadweep. The lineup includes 15 candidates from the General Category and 24 from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, and OBC backgrounds. The Congress Election Committee previously convened to finalize the names of 60 candidates across 10 states.
Furthermore, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is reportedly considering fielding CPI(M) central committee member TM Thomas Isaac.
In Kerala’s Pathanamthitta region, historically a stronghold of the UDF led by the Congress, there has been a perceptible decline in the alliance’s support base over the past decade. However, buoyed by the Sabarimala protests in 2018, the Congress-led UDF alliance managed to reclaim its prominence, thus securing its stronghold in Kerala since 2019.
In a parallel development, the BJP unveiled its initial list of 195 candidates across 16 states and two Union Territories on March 2 for the Lok Sabha polls.
Candidate list for Congress
| Candidate | Constituency | State |
| Bhupesh Baghel | Rajnandgaon | Chhattisgarh |
| Shivkumar Dahariya | Jangir-Champa | Chhattisgarh |
| Jyotsana Mahant | Korba | Chhattisgarh |
| Rajendra Sahu | Durg | Chhattisgarh |
| Vikas Upadhyay | Raipur | Chhattisgarh |
| Tamradhwaj Sahu | Mahasumund | Chhattisgarh |
| H R Algur (Raju) | Bijapur | Karnataka |
| Geetha Shivarajkumar | Shimoga | Karnataka |
| D K Suresh | Bengaluru Rural | Karnataka |
| Anandaswamy Gaddadevara Math | Haveri | Karnataka |
| M Shreyas Patel | Hassan | Karnataka |
| S P Muddahanumegowda | Tumkur | Karnataka |
| Venkataramegowda (Star Chandru) | Mandya | Karnataka |
| Rajmohan Unnithan | Kasaragod | Kerala |
| Rahul Gandhi | Wayanand | Kerala |
| KC Venugopal | Alappuzha | Kerala |
| K Sudhakaran | Kannur | Kerala |
| Shashi Tharoor | Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala |
| K Muraleedharan | Thrissur | Kerala |
| Shafi Parambil | Vadakara | Kerala |
| M K Raghavan | Kozhikode | Kerala |
| V K Sreekandan | Palakkad | Kerala |
| Ramya Haridas | Alathur | Kerala |
| Benny Behanan | Chalakudy | Kerala |
| Hibi Eden | Ernakulam | Kerala |
| Dean Kuriakose | Idukki | Kerala |
| Kodikunnil Suresh | Mavelikkara | Kerala |
| Anto Antony | Pathanamthitta | Kerala |
| Adoor Prakash | Attingal | Kerala |
| Mohd Hamdullaha Sayeed | Lakshadweep | Lakshadweep |
| Vincent H Pala | Shillong | Meghalaya |
| Saleng A Sangma | Tura | Meghalaya |
| S Supongmeren Jamir | Nagaland | Nagaland |
| Gopal Chettri | Sikkim | Sikkim |
| Suresh Kumar Shetkar | Zahirabad | Telangana |
| Raghuveer Kunduru | Nalgonda | Telangana |
| Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy | Mahbubnagar | Telangana |
| Balram Naik Porika | Mahabubabad | Telangana |
| Ashish Kumar Saha | Tripura West | Tripura |
