Congress announces candidates for LS by-elections from Tirupati, Belgaum

Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday announced the name of Dr Chinta Mohan as their candidate for the by-election to the Tirupati Lok Sabha Constituency in Andhra Pradesh.

"The Congress President Sonia Gandhi has approved the candidature of Dr Chinta Mohan as Congress candidate for the ensuing by-election to the Lok Sabha from 23 -- Tirupati - SC Parliamentary Constituency of Andhra Pradesh," read the official release.

Congress also named Satish Jarakiholi as the party candidate for the by-election to the Belgaum Parliamentary constituency.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Election Commission announced bye-elections to Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh and Belgaum Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka and for 14 vacancies in assemblies of different states.

The polling will be held on April 17 and counting of votes will take place on May 2.

The assembly bye-election will be held in Gujarat's Morva Hadaf, Jharkhand's Madhupur, Karnataka's Basavakalyan, Karnataka's Maski, Madhya Pradesh's Damoh, Maharashtra's Pandharpur, Mizoram's Serchhip, Nagaland's Noksen, Odisha's Pipili, Rajasthan's Sahara, Sujangarh and Rajsamand, Telangana's Nagarjuna Sagar and Uttarakhand's Salt.

The last date of filing nomination is March 30 and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is April 3.

( With inputs from ANI )