The Congress on Wednesday released its official list for Rajya Sabha. The Congress has fielded Sonia Gandhi from Rajasthan and nominated Abhishek Manu Singhvi from Himachal Pradesh. Ajay Maken will be party's candidate from Karnataka.
Chandrakant Handore was picked for Legislative Council but lost the election. He is considered to be a hardcore AICC member, a Dalit face and has previously been the Social Justice Minister.
Renuka Chowdhury and Anil Yadav will be Congress candidates from Telangana, sources added.
The Election Commission on Monday said that the biennial Rajya Sabha polls will be held on February 27 for 56 seats, as the tenure of incumbents including former prime minister Manmohan Singh and BJP president J P Nadda will end in April. The vacancies also include seats held by nine Union ministers including Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. The nomination process will begin on February 8 with the issuance of the notification.
February 15 will be the last date for filing nominations while February 20 is the last date to withdraw candidature. As per the established practice, while voting will take place from 9 am to 4 pm, the counting will be held on the same day from 5 pm onwards. While 50 members retire on April 2, six do so on April 3, the EC said.
