Congress fields Shatrughan Sinha from Patna Sahib

The Congress on Saturday fielded actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha as its Lok Sabha poll candidate from the Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar, hours after he joined the party quitting the BJP.

The 72-year-old Sinha, the incumbent MP from the seat, will face senior BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The Congress also announced that former Himachal Pradesh minister Ramlal Thakur will contest from the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat in the state against sitting BJP MP Anurag Thakur.

In Punjab, the party fielded Jasbir Singh Gill Dimpa from Khadoor Sahib, former IAS officer Amar Singh from Fatehgarh Sahib (reserve), and folk singer Mohammed Sadique from the Faridkot Lok Sabha seat.

With the latest list of five candidates, a total of 377 names have been announced by the party for the Lok Sabha elections.

The names were announced after party leaders from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar met Congress president Rahul Gandhi earlier during the day.

Among those present during the meeting were: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, AICC secretary and the party's Punjab affairs in-charge Asha Kumari, Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Kuldeep Rathore and state CLP leader Mukesh Agnihotri.