The Congress on Thursday announced that party chief Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha elections from its traditional bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. His mother and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will contest the polls from Rae Bareli constituency in the state.

The Congress released the first list of 15 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday night. Besides the Gandhis, candidates were announced for nine other seats in Uttar Pradesh and four in Gujarat.

The Congress said its Central Election Committee has chosen former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid to be the nominee for the Farukkhabad seat in Uttar Pradesh. Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee chief Bharatsinh Solanki will contest from Anand Lok Sabha seat in the state. Former Minister of State for Human Resources Jitin Prasada will be the candidate for Dhaurahra seat in Uttar Pradesh, and spokesperson RPN Singh will contest from Kushinagar, the Congress press release said.

The Lok Sabha elections are expected to be held in April and May. Uttar Pradesh sends 80 legislators to Parliament, while Gujarat has 26 seats. The Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal have announced an alliance in Uttar Pradesh, leaving the Congress out – but the alliance will not contest in Amethi and Rae Bareli.