New Delhi:

Congress MP Nakul Nath, son of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, has been nominated for the post, the party said late on Tuesday while unveiling another batch of candidates. Defending its Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 general elections, another batch of candidates was announced, with 43 candidates out of 39 last week.

Last month, Nate Sr. and Nate Jr. had the Congress leadership on tenterhooks amid speculation that both might join the BJP. Sources told NDTV Kamal Nath that the party is “not happy” with its poor performance in the 2023 assembly elections. Sources said Kamal Nath felt that the Congress party had changed since he joined the Congress over 50 years ago and conveyed this to the party.

The Congress party has denied reports that Kamal Nath will leave office, stressing that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had called him her “third son” when she campaigned for him in 1979. The senior leader reacted days later by ending discussions about the departure. “Did you hear that from my mouth?” he asked the reporter.

Nakul Nath also vehemently denied it. “…Neither Kamal Nath nor Nakul Nath will join the BJP.”

Read | ‘Neither me nor my father joined the BJP’: Kamal Nath’s son

Chhindwara is a former chief minister’s stronghold and, importantly, is the only Lok Sabha seat in the state won by the Congress; the BJP swept the other 28 seats to a landslide victory in 2019. The party also dominates the state polls and has made winning all 29 seats in this election its top priority.

However, the choice of Nakul Nath to contest the seat instead of his father raised some eyebrows, especially after the former chief minister insisted 24 hours ago that he would not leave the Chhindwara seat. There are rumors that Nath Sr. may contest from the Jabalpur seat.

Read | Kamal Nath swaps Chhindwara for Jabalpur? He said…

Jabalpur is a BJP bastion; the saffron party has held the seat since the 1996 elections, and incumbent Rakesh Singh is seeking a fifth consecutive victory.

In three Nath elections, including the victory of Kamal Nath’s wife Alka Nath in 1996, the Congress has won Chhindwara 11 times. In fact, the party has lost to the BJP in this seat only once – Sunder Lal Patwa did the unthinkable and won Chhindwara in the 1997 by-election.

Vaibhav Gehlot in Rajasthan

The Congress party, often attacked by the BJP as a “dynastic pilot”, has also appointed the son of another stalwart as its Lok Sabha candidate. Vaibhav Gehlot, son of former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, will contest from Jallore constituency, which has been a BJP bastion in the past four elections.

Incumbent MP Devji Patel has won three polls.

Vaibhav Gehlot was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for nine hours last year over alleged foreign exchange irregularities. Mr Gehlot’s query comes just days ahead of the Rajasthan assembly elections, in which the then-ruling Congress party suffered a crushing defeat.

Young Gehlot denied all the accusations and said, “My family and I have no connection whatsoever with FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) or foreign transactions.”

Ashok Gehlot refuted the allegations and said Vaibhav did not engage in foreign exchange trading. “Vaibhav Gehlot has only one cab company…” said the former chief minister.

Gaurav Gogoi’s Assam Switch

Meanwhile, the Congress party has also appointed Gaurav Gogoi, deputy leader of the party’s Lok Sabha, in its 43-member list. Mr Gogoi will contest from the Jorhat seat; he fielded and won from the Congress stronghold Kaliabor seat in 2014 and 2019.

Jorhat was also a Congress seat from independence till 2009 until it was ousted by the BJP, won by Kamakhya Prasad Tasa in 2014 and Topun Kumar Gogo Topon Kumar Gogoi won in 2019.

The Congress party is racing to strike a seat-sharing deal with its India Bloc allies but has yet to announce a possible candidate for a majority.

These include 17 seats in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, where Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – her mother Sonia Gandhi – is expected to make her debut The vacant Raebareli seat. Rahul Gandhi is expected to challenge the family’s other northern bastion – Amethi.

Read | Priyanka Gandhi’s poll debut from Raebareli, Amethi Redux for Rahul

Mr Gandhi has been confirmed as the candidate from Wayanad in Kerala.

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