Panchmahal (Gujarat) [India], March 9 (ANI): Congress MP Jairam Ramesh expressed confidence in the release of Congress's list for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, stating, "It's a strong list."

"It's a strong list. But it's just the first one. There will be more lists. We release lists according to a set procedure, unlike the BJP where two people decide. Their (BJP) candidate from Asansol was changed and a similar thing happened in UP. We don't do like this we have a specific manner and procedure," Jairam Ramesh said.

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The BJP candidate who withdrew his candidature from West Bengal's Asansol was a popular Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh.

On March 3, a day after being named the BJP's candidate, Taking to his official handle on X, the singer confirmed that he was pulling out of the contest "due to some reason".

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"I express my heartfelt gratitude to the top leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party. The party trusted me and declared me as the candidate from West Bengal's Asansol but due to some reason, I will not be able to contest the elections from Asansol," Singh posted from his X handle on Sunday.

Earlier, the Congress released its first list of 39 candidates for Lok Sabha elections on Friday with party General Secretary KC Venugopal asserting that his party's priority is to win the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats.

The names have been announced for Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshwadeep, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Telangana, and Tripura.

Of the total 39 candidates announced, 16 are from Kerala, seven from Karnataka and six from Chhattisgarh, four are from Telangana. Two from Meghalaya and one each from Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim and Lakshwadeep.

Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal informed that senior party leader Rahul Gandhi will again contest from the Wayanad constituency, the seat won by him in 2019.

The list of 39 candidates was released after the party held its Central Election Committee meeting on Thursday. (ANI)

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