Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party on Friday announced the first list of 39 candidates, including Rahul Gandhi, who will contest from Wayanad. The list also includes former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor.

“The Congress Election Committee met yesterday and selected 39 candidates in its first list of (Lok Sabha) candidates. The list includes names of Rahul Gandhi and Bhupesh Baghel,” Venugopal said during a press conference. Of the 39 candidates, 15 are from the general category and 24 are from ST/SC/OBC and minority backgrounds.

Speaking during the press conference, senior leader Ajay Maken said the first list is a mix of both young, experienced candidates and leaders from the Youth Congress.

The names of Congress candidates for 39 Lok Sabha seats for the Lok Sabha Elections were announced in the meeting of the ‘Central Election Committee’ held under the chairmanship of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.

“Congress party is very clear: we are here to reduce BJP seats to the maximum extent possible. We are ready to sacrifice anything to reduce BJP seats. But we are expecting the same level of partnership from other partners also. In some states, we need to move forward,” Venugopal said.

This list comes as opinion polls predict another big defeat for the party that has ruled India for much of its independent history but was thrashed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last two general elections. National elections are likely to be held in the coming weeks.

On Thursday, Congress had said it would guarantee paid apprenticeships to every graduate under 25 if it wins the upcoming election, as it tries to tap into voter concerns over high unemployment, even among the well-educated. “We are going to ensure your ‘first job’ of Rs 1 lakh ($1,209) per year,” former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, said on X social media. “This historic plan of ours is a forever cure for the disease of unemployment.”

Gandhi, who is in the middle of a cross-country march exhorting young people to vote for Congress, said the party would enact a ‘Right to Apprentice Act’ guaranteeing a one-year apprenticeship in a government or private institution, with the opportunity to continue in the job. “This revolutionary scheme will change the face of Indian industries and the destiny of the youth by closing the skill gap between industry and India’s workforce,” he said.