Congress clears candidates for 8 UP seats, Ajay Rai to take on PM Modi in Varanasi: Sources

The Congress has finalised candidates for 8 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, sources told India Today on Thursday. Congress' Ajay Rai may contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi. This will be the second time when he will fight against PM Modi. In 2019, he also tried his luck but came third with 14 per cent votes. The Samajwadi Party's Shalini Yadav got 18 per cent votes, while PM Modi secured over 63%. 

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi wants to contest from Raebareli. 

Also, the Congress is likely to field Arun Yadav to take on Jyotiraditya Scindia from the Guna seat in Madhya Pradesh, sources said. Scindia, who was in Congress till 2021, represented Guna in Lok Sabha from 2002 to 2019. In 2019, he lost the prestigious seat to BJP's Krishna Pal Singh Yadav.  

Former chief minister Digvijay Singh is likely to be fielded from Rajgarh. Singh had held this seat from 1991 to 1994. He was then replaced by Lakshman Singh, who held this seat till 2004 as Congressman and then till 2009 as a BJP candidate.   

The Congress may also give a ticket to Kantilal Bhuria from the Jhabua seat. 

Jitu Patwari, the current president of Madhya Pradesh Congress, may not contest the Lok Sabha elections, sources told India Today.