The Congress's second list of 43 Lok Sabha candidates indicates that the party has been compelled to make a virtue out of necessity by fielding fresh faces because many entrenched and popular leaders are reluctant to fight.

Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation K.C. Venugopal announced with pride that 76.7 per cent candidates out of the 43 in the second list are young, 25 aged below 50. He concealed the unease in the top leadership about many senior leaders refusing to join the fray, which has forced the party to bank on fresh faces with a spotless image minus political baggage.

While the dominant view in the Congress is that the 82 candidates selected so far were satisfactory, sources reveal that the party high command’s wish for all the senior and strong leaders to contest this critical election has not been fulfilled. The second list bared this crisis. While the number of fresh faces is abnormally high, announcements for many key constituencies are withheld as veterans are still being persuaded to contest.

It cannot be hazarded whether the decision of Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to exit the poll fray because of age has emboldened other senior leaders to make excuses.

In Madhya Pradesh, the central leadership is keen to field strong candidates against Shivraj Singh Chauhan in Vidisha and Jyotiraditya Scindia in Guna. Former state president Arun Yadav and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh are said to be reluctant. While Yadav supposedly prefers the "safer" Khandwa seat to locking horns with Scindia in Guna, Digvijaya prefers his fiefdom Rajgarh, insisting younger leaders be given a chance elsewhere.

Both the seats have been held back now. Other senior leaders from Madhya Pradesh such as Kamal Nath, Ajay Singh and Kantilal Bhuria are also reluctant. While the party wanted Kamal Nath to contest Chhindwara instead of his son Nakul Nath, the sitting MP, the veteran opted out of the contest. Tarun Bhanot, who was the finance minister in the Kamal Nath government, refused to contest from Jabalpur because he lost the recent Assembly polls.

In Rajasthan, the leadership wanted former chief minister Ashok Gehlot to contest instead of his son Vaibhav who could not win in 2019, but the veteran chose to stay away. One senior leader told The Telegraph: “Gehlot is a valuable asset for the party, apart from Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan. While Gehlot does not want to contest because he would like to establish his son, Pilot probably argued he does not have the resources to contest a Lok Sabha election.”

Sources said Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a strong contender in Haryana, is also reluctant because his son will contest. In Delhi, the strongest candidate, Ajay Maken, chose to enter the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka.

Some leaders believe Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi should have been the first two names from Amethi and Rae Bareli, respectively, enabling the central leadership to mount pressure on all senior leaders to contest.

The 43 names announced on Tuesday are from Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. Several sitting MLAs have been fielded in Madhya Pradesh, apart from young and active leaders with a good image. The Congress has pitted young MLA Lalit Yadav against BJP veteran Bhupendra Yadav in Alwar. Sitting MLAs Brijendra Ola and Harish Chandra Meena have also been asked to contest the Lok Sabha polls. BJP MP Rahul Kaswan, who joined the party on Monday, has been given the ticket from Churu.

In Madhya Pradesh, three sitting MLAs have been fielded in the Lok Sabha polls.

In Assam, Gaurav Gogoi’s seat has been changed. He will now contest Jorhat instead of Kaliabor. In Rajasthan, Gehlot’s son Vaibhav will now contest from Jalore seat instead of Jodhpur. In Gujarat, former social media head Rohan Gupta has been fielded from Ahmedabad East.