New Delhi, Mar 22 (IANS): The Congress on Thursday released its third list for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, naming 56 candidates from eight states, including its leader in the Lower House, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, from Baharampur in West Bengal.

The list includes candidates for both seats in Arunachal Pradesh, 11 from Gujarat, 17 from Karnataka, seven from Maharashtra, five each from Rajasthan and Telangana, eight from West Bengal, and one from Puducherry.

The party also announced that it is leaving the Sikar seat in Rajasthan for the CPI-M.

A large number of relatives of prominent party leaders and recent entrants figures in the list.

Other prominent names in the list include Chhatrapati Shrimant Shahu Maharaj from Kolhapur and Praniti Sushilkumar Shinde, the daughter of former Union Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, from Solapur (SC) (both Maharashtra); Priyanka Jarkiholi, daughter of Karnataka PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi (Chikkodi), Mrunal Hebbalkar, son of Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar (Belagavi), and Radhakrishna, son-in-law of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, from Gulbarga (SC) (all Karnataka); former Arunachal Chief Minister Nabam Tuki (Arunachal West), and former Puducherry Chief Minister Ve. Vaithilingam (Puducherry), and former West Bengal party chief Pradeep Bhattacharya (North Kolkata).

In Telangana, the Congress has fielded three leaders who had recently switched to the party from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

BRS MLA Danam Nagender, who joined the party on March 17, has been named as the candidate from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency. Ranjith Reddy, the sitting BRS MP from Chevella who too joined the Congress on March 17, will seek re-election from the same constituency on a Congress ticket this time.

BRS legislator Patnam Mahender Reddy’s wife and Vikarabad ZP Chairperson Sunitha, who joined the party last month, will contest from the Malkajgiri constituency.

Her candidature from Chevella was withheld at the last minute.