Dance of dynasty: Exit Chidambaram, enter son Karti

Instead, Chidambaram’s son Karti got the ticket from Sivaganga seat. Chidambaram, who has been a seven-time MP from Sivaganga constituency, had conveyed his reservations on contesting this time to party’s high command and instead wanted his son to fight the election. ‘I’m honoured that the Congress has bestowed this on me. It’s a huge challenge. I would work very hard. The Congress in Sivaganga is organised and is ready,’ said an elated Karti Chidambaram.

Former union minister and veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar will be contesting from Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu. Another party loyalist and close to the top brass, Ghulam Nabi Azad, will be fighting the election from from Udhampur, Jammu & Kashmir.

Kirit Patel will take on BJP veteran LK Advani in Gandhinagar in Gujarat. Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh’s brother Laxman Singh will be contesting from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh against senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj who is the sitting BJP MP from here.

Also renominated were sitting MPs Mahabal Mishra and Ramesh Kumar from West and South Delhi respectively. Atul Chaturvedi has been fielded from Firozabad. No name from Varanasi was announced in this list.