The Congress today said it had finalised the candidates for about 100 seats in Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. The party’s CEC concluded its deliberations on the nomination of candidates, party spokesman Kapil Sibal said. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is discussing the selection of candidates with general secretaries of the states, he said. In Maharashtra, names of CWC member Mukul Wasnik (Buldhana), Gurudas Kamat (Mumbai North-East) and Suresh Kalmadi (Pune) are understood to have been cleared. Other likely contestants include Sunil Dutt (Mumbai North-West) Balasaheb Vikhe Patil (Kopergaon), Udham Singh Pawar (Jalna), Sudhir Sawant (Rajapur) and Dhamu Singhda (Dhanu). Sachin Pilot is likely to be fielded from Dausa in place of his mother Rama Pilot. In HP, the seats considered were Shimla for Dhaniram Shandel, Bilaspur for Ramlal Thakur, Kangra for Chandra Kumar.The lists would be announced on March 15, sources said.
