Maharashtra Congress chief Manikrao Thakre made the announcement here today.
Deshmukh, brother of Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, will have a third term in the Council if elected. Rahul is the son of former Congress MP Naresh Pugalia.
Congress sources said Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who belongs to the ally NCP, pitched for Dilip Deshmukh. Congress needs NCP's support to win the seat.
The Sharad Pawar-led party has 251 members while Congress has 217 in the Latur-Beed-Osmanabad local bodies.
However, Congress workers were expecting a fresh face and Deshmukh had not been politically active in the last few years due to ill-health, sources said.
Sitting MLC from Chandrapur-Wardha-Gadchiroli local bodies, Jainuddin Jhaveri, would not be getting another term, with the party opting for Pugalia.
The process of filing of nominations will start tomorrow, while the election will be held on May 25.
The ruling alliance partners are contesting the election together. NCP has already announced candidatures of Anil Tatkare for Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg local bodies and Jayant Jadhav from Nashik local bodies seat. The party is yet to announce its candidate from Parbhani local bodies seat.
