The Congress leadership on Monday dismissed as “fake” a list of nine names of purported party candidates for the Lok Sabha Elections in Haryana. Talking to reporters in Chandigarh, Haryana Congress President Udai Bhan said that a fake list of party candidates for nine Lok Sabha seats from the State has been circulating on social media and termed it as a mischievous attempt to tarnish the party's image.

On the Social Media Groups, the purported first list of candidates emerged under the guise of an AICC press release with the lines, “The Central Election Committee (CEC) of party has selected the following persons as Congress candidates for the ensuing elections to the Lok Sabha. The “fake list” suggested that Varun Mulana will contest the Lok Sabha Election from Ambala –SC while Kumari Selja from Sirsa-SC; Brijender Singh from Hisar; Virender Maratha from Karnal; Satpal Bharamchari from Sonipat; Asha Hooda from Rohtak, Rao Dhan Singh from Bhiwani- Mahendragarh; Raj Babbar from Gurgaon and Mahender Pratap Singh from Faridabad.

The purported release carried the “seal” of AICC and bore a “signature” made to appear like that of KC Venu Gopal, senior Congress leader and General Secretary, AICC dated on April 22, 2024. The list featured several names that have the potential to trigger severe dissidence within the Congress.

Udai Bhan said, “A fake press release…is being circulated on social media. I would like to clarify that…AICC has not issued any press release regarding this. Screening committee meetings are on.” He said that the start of the nomination process is still a week away and the names of candidates will be announced before that.  “A list is being circulated over social media. It is a fake list,” he said.

BJP took the early initiative and announced its list of candidates on all the 10 Lok Sabha seats of the State a long time back. Over the past several days, Congress' rivals have targeted it over alleged delay in the announcement of candidates, saying it was running away from the contest.