Nehru's name was among the 44 candidates finalised by the central election committee of the party in its meeting on Tuesday. The committee, had earlier cleared 139 names bringing the total number of candidates declared so far to 183.

Nehru's candidature from a constituency, which was one represented by Indira Gandhi and from where this time also a member of the Gandhi family is likely to contest, would also improve the party's position in the adjoining constituencies. Nehru has been keeping aloof from politics since 1990 and writing political commentaries in various newspapers. In his recent writings, he has been predicting a big victory for the BJP-led alliance in the coming elections.

Other prominent names cleared include former former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Sunder Lal Patwa from Hoshangabad, Union power minister P Rangarajan Kumarmangalam from Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu and Union minister of state for communications Kabindra Purkayastha from Silchar in Assam. Out of the 44 seats finalised on Tuesday, 10 have been allotted to sitting members of the dissolved Lok Sabha, three to women, five each to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and two to minorities, party general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu told newspersons after the meeting.

Naidu said the remaining seats would be finalised by the committee on August 14 in stead of Wednesday. By that time, the situation about seat sharing with allies is likely to become clear.

Naidu said Karnataka list could not be finalised till a decision was taken on tie-up with unified Janata Dal. For similar reasons, Bihar also could not be discussed.