John Kumar has been nominated for the Puducherry by-election for the lone Kamraj Nagar seat.

The Congress today announced the names of candidates for the upcoming Assembly by-elections in Assam, Puducherry, Kerala and Chhattisgarh.

In Assam, there will be bypolls in four seats for which Keshab Prasad Rajak (Ratanbari), Shamsul Haque (Jania), Kartik Kurmi (Rangapara) and Sushil Suri (Sonari) will be the Congress candidates.

John Kumar has been nominated for the Puducherry by-election for the lone Kamraj Nagar seat.

In Chhattisgarh, Rajman Benzam will contest the bypoll for the Chitrakoot Assembly seat on a Congress ticket.

While K Mohankumar, ex-MLA, will contest the Vatiyoorkavu seat, Kochi deputy mayor TJ Vinod has been named for the Ernakulam constituency, senior party leader Shanimol Usman for Aroor, and former Pathanamthita district party chief AP Mohanraj for Konni.

At the Manjeswaram constituency, the fifth seat, the Congress ally Indian Union Muslim League is contesting and its candidate has already begun campaigning.

The by-elections were necessitated because of resignation of three sitting Congress MLAs -- K Muraleedharan, Hibi Eden and Adoor Prakash -- as well as CPI-M leader AM Ariff. They were elected to the Lok Sabha in May.