By IANS,
New Delhi : After President Pratibha Patil’s son, the Congress has named the offspring of two union ministers in its third list of candidates for Maharashtra assembly elections.
The list that was announced past midnight Thursday has the names of Amit Deshmukh, son of Heavy Industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, and Praniti Shinde, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s daughter, as candidates from Latur City and Solapur City Central constituencies, respectively. They are among the eight candidates whose names were announced in the list.
The Congress is facing criticism after it Wednesday named Rajendra Shekhawat, son of President Pratibha Patil, as its candidate from the prestigious Amravati assembly constituency of Vidarbha in eastern Maharashtra, which was represented by state minister Sunil Deshmukh.
Sunil Deshmukh, who has been elected from there twice in 1999 and 2004, said he would contest the polls from Amaravati as an independent.
However, the Congress had played down Deshmukh’s rebel threat.
Party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan Thursday said: “During election time, there is certain amount of unhappiness among those who are denied tickets. The real Congressmen will not rebel against official candidates.”