The former cricketer and captain of the Indian team Mohammad Azharuddin will open his political innings from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, in the last month Azharuddin has joined the Congress party. Azharuddin's name figures in the list of 14 candidates declared by the party on Friday (27th March) for Uttar Pradesh. The Congress party wants to revive its lost vote-base in Uttar Pradesh by going it alone in the polls.

Earlier, the candidature of the former India batsman, who hails from Hyderabad, was being considered for Tonk in Rajasthan and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. So far, the Congress has announced 53 candidates in Uttar Pradesh. Some days ago its negotiations with the Samajwadi Party for seat sharing collapsed. Other names that were announced on Friday (27th March) include former union minister Sanjay Singh as the candidate from Sultanpur.

From high profile Rae Bareilly and Amethi seat party president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi will contest respectively. Two recent entrants to the party, Ramesh Dubey and Suryamani Tripathi too, have been fielded from Mirzapur and Bhadohi constituency respectively. Both of them joined the party early this week.