Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane and Priya Dutt, daughter of late Union Minister Sunil Dutt, will be Congress candidates for the bypolls from Malwan Assembly and Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seats scheduled next month.

The announcement, which was a mere formality, was made on Tuesday by party General Secretary Ambika Soni who said that the candidatures of Rane and Priya had been approved by party chief Sonia Gandhi [Images].

The bypoll in Malwan was necessitated following the resignation of Rane a few months back after the former chief minister left the Shiv Sena and joined Congress.

Priya's candidature was okayed by Sonia a few months ago with the All India Congress Committee declaring that she would be the party nominee from the seat represented by her father Sunil Dutt several times.