Congress releases first list of 41 candidates for UP

New Delhi, Jan 22
The Congress on Sunday announced its first list of 41 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections on Sunday -- the day it patched up an alliance with the ruling Samajwadi Party.

Out of 41 candidates on the Congress list, eight are Muslims, which translates roughly to 20 per cent. This is in direct contrast to the two BJP lists, which do not have even a single Mulsim so far.

Interestingly, the list also includes the name of Imran Masood, who was in the eye of a storm during 2014 Lok Sabha elections when a video clip emerged that allegedly showed him saying he would cut Narendra Modi into pieces if he ever came to his constituency.

Masood was jailed for his alleged hate speech.

The Congress has also given ticket to former Union Minister Jitin Prasad, who hails from a prominent political family of Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress has fielded heavyweight MLA Amarpal Sharma, a BSP defector, from the Sahibabad seat.

The Congress is contesting 105 seats and may soon come out with its second list of candidates.