As usual, the Congress released the list of candidates at the eleventh hour, on the eve of filing of nominations, but prudently accommodated all groups in the party to avoid any bitterness.
The party, however, has denied tickets to Ms Rani, who got elected from Rasipuram (Res) and Mr Dhanushkodi Adityan from Tirunelveli in the 2004 elections. Mr Adityan had met with an accident and he could have been denied ticket because of his health condition.
Those who are seeking re-election, included Union Ministers Mani Shankar Aiyar, E V K S Elangovan, TNCC President K V Thangabalu, former TNCC President M Krishnaswamy, R Prabhu and N S V Chithan.
The party, which had successfuly contested ten seats in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, is contesting 15 seats in the state, in alliance with the ruling DMK and the lone seat in Puducherry.
Tiruchirapalli Corporation Mayor Charu Bala, former MLAs K S Alagiri, Rama Subbu, G Sundaravadivelu and Vallai Pandi are the new faces in the list of candidates. They were fielded in Tiruchirapalli, Cuddalore, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Tenkasi (Res) constituencies respectively.
Four of the sitting MPs–E V K S Elangovan, S K Karventhan, R Prabhu and J M Aaron Rashid, however, had to change their constituencies after the delimitation.
While Mr Elangovan had to move to Erode, from his native town of Gobichettipalayam, Mr Prabhu has come down to the plains in Coimbatore from the hill station of Nilgiris, after it was made as a reserve constituency.
Similarly, Mr Karventhan, who earned the distinction of raising maximum questions in the Lok Sabha, had to move to Tiruppur from Palani and Mr Aaron from Periyakulam to Theni.
The Congress is yet to announce candidate for Kancheepuram (Res) seat. Party sources said the party has to hold back as there were too many contenders for the seat and party MLA K Jayakumar is one of the key aspirants for the seat.
For the lone seat in Puducherry, the Congress, as expected nominated Union Minister V Narayanaswamy.
