New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday announced the names of 16 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections after a meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee held here.

Accordingly, the Congress has fielded its sitting legislator from the Shimla Rural seat, Vikramaditya Singh, who's the son of six-time Himachal Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singh, against BJP’s Kangana Ranaut in Mandi. The seat is held by Vikramaditya Singh's mother Pratibha Singh, who won the bypoll in 2021.

The party has also fielded Vinod Sultanpuri from the Shimla (reserved) seat.

The list includes the names of two candidates from Himachal Pradesh, nine from Odisha, four from Gujarat, and one for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Chandigarh.

The Congress has given the ticket for the Chandigarh seat to its sitting MP from Punjab’s Anandpur Sahib, Manish Tewari. The former Union Minister will take on Sanjay Tandon of the BJP.

The meeting of the Central Election Committee was attended by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal.

(IANS)