The Congress on Monday released its first list of 65 candidates for the Telangana Assembly elections slated for December 7. The elections were announced after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the 119-seat Assembly in September. The state was earlier scheduled to go to the polls by May 2019.

The Congress party’s list was released after a meeting of it’s Central Election Committee chaired by party chief Rahul Gandhi. State Congress leaders were also present at the meeting, PTI reported.

The party has nominated Vanteru Pratap Reddy from Gajwel, the seat from where Rao is likely to contest as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi candidate. State Congress President N Uttam Kumar Reddy will contest from Huzurnagar, while his wife Padmavati Reddy will contest from Kodad, Telangana Today reported.

Congress Legislature Party leader K Jana Reddy got a ticket from Nagarjunasaga seat, while Leader of the Opposition in the Council Shabbir Ali will contest from Kamareddy, The Hindu reported.

On Friday, the party said it had reached a seat-sharing arrangement with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, the Communist Party of India and the Telangana Jana Samithi. Congress leader RC Khunti said the party will field candidates in 93 constituencies, the TDP will contest 14 seats, the Telangana Jana Samithi eight, and the Communist Party of India will vie for three seats.

On November 1, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said his party would work with Naidu to “defend democracy and the future of the country”. The “principal idea here is to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party”, Gandhi had said.