The central election committee of the Congress on Friday cleared four of the nine Lok Sabha seats that the party would be contesting in Tamil Nadu in alliance with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
There has been no official announcement but sources said the party would be repeating Karti Chidambaram from Sivaganga, S. Jothimani from the Karur Lok Sabha seat, Vijay Vasanth from Kanniyakumari, and Manickam Tagore from Virudhunagar.
Discussions on the other five seats also took place but their final clearance is pending. However, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge could clear the names for the Thiruvallur and Krishnagiri Lok Sabha seats later, a source indicated.
The Congress is contesting 10 Lok Sabha seats including Puducherry as part of the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu. On Thursday, the party named V.E. Vaithilingam will as its candidate for the lone seat of Puducherry.
Though the committee, presided by Mr. Kharge, has been meeting every day since Tuesday, the party has officially announced only 138 names so far.
