Kharge, Sonia, Rahul among Congress’ 40 star campaigners for 1st phase of J&K polls

New Delhi, Aug 31 : Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are among the 40 ‘star campaigners’ whose names were announced on Saturday for the first phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir scheduled on September 18.

The list, issued by Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, also includes his own name besides some prominent party leaders like Jairam Ramesh, Ambika Soni, Ajay Maken, Salman Khurshid, and Kanhaiya Kumar, among others.

The names of Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Chhanni, ex-Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot also feature in the list.

Election to the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be held in three phases — on September 18, September 25, and October 1. The ballots will be counted on October 8.

This will be the first Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014, and also the first after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

The Congress has already stitched an alliance with the National Conference for the elections.

Here is the complete list of Congress’ star campaigners for the first phase of Jammu and Kashmir polls:

1. Mallikarajun Kharge
2. Rajani Patil
3. Sonia Gandhi
4. Rajiv Shukla
5. Rahul Gandhi
6. Manish Tewari
7. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
8. Imran Pratapgarhi
9. K.C. Venugopal
10. Kishori Lal Sharma
11. Ajay Maken
12. Ranjit Ranjan
13. Ambika Soni
14. Raman Bhalla
15. Bharatsinh Solanki
16. Tarachand
17. Tariq Hameed Karra
18. Chaudhary Lal Singh
19. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu
20. Peerzada Mohd. Sayeed
21. Jairam Ramesh
22. Imran Masood
23. Ghulam Ahmad Mir
24. Pawan Khera
25. Sachin Pilot
26. Supriya Shrinate
27. Mukesh Agnihotri
28. Kanhaiya Kumar
29. Charanjit Singh Channi
30. Manoj Yadav
31. Salman Khurshid
32. Shahnawaz Chaudhary
33. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa
34. Rajesh Lilothia
35. Amrinder Singh Raja Warring
36. Alka Lamba
37. Syed Nasir Hussain
38. Srinivas B.V.
39. Vikar Rasool Wani
40. Neeraj Kundan