Gujarat Polls: BJP, Congress Declare Final List of Candidates

A lot of members are unhappy with the final list of Congress party candidates.

BJP has declared candidates for 182 seats, whereas Congress has declared candidates for 177 seats.

(Photo Altered by The Quint)

The Congress and the BJP, after disseminating candidates’ names for the final phase of polling through phone calls which were later spread across social media by news outlets, finally released its list of candidates. The Congress list was declared late on Sunday night, which was congruent to all the names declared through calls.

The list mentioned 76 names, including former Congress MP from Mehsana, Jivabhai Patel who will lock horns with Deputy CM Nitin Patel for Mehsana Taluka; Jivabhai had defeated Nitin Patel in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress on Monday, declared 15 names for the final phase of polling. Five seats have been assigned to the Bharat Tribal Party. Filing of nominations for the second phase ends on Monday.

With the final list appended, the Congress has issued tickets to 12 candidates from Scheduled Tribes and 5 from Scheduled Caste communities.

Congress Draws Flak After Final List

The release of the new list has angered many members of the Congress party in Gujarat. General Secretary of the Congress Women’s Wing, Pooja Prajapati, resigned over discrimination against women in distribution of tickets. Similarly, in Visnagar Taluka of Mehsana, Congress workers staged a protest after the ticket was issued to Mahesh Patel.

Disappointed by the distribution of tickets, Dahod Zilla Panchayat Vice President Parshottam Chauhan resigned from the Congress. In nearby Godhra, the Congress ticket was issued to Rajendra Parmar. Congress corporator in Jamnagar, Atul Bhanderi, joined BJP after the grand old party denied him a ticket.

Meanwhile, the ticket for Lunawada constituency in Mahisagar district was issued to Paranjayaditya Parmar instead of sitting MLA Hirabhai Patel. Similarly, the ticket for Dhanera Assembly seat in Banaskantha was issued to Nathabhai Patel instead of sitting MLA Joita Patel.

In Ahmedabad, the Congress ticket for Thakkarbapa Nagar was issued to advocate Babu Mangukiya, who was PAAS leader Hardik Patel’s counsel during the sedition trial.

In an interesting turn of events, the Congress has withdrawn its candidate from Vadgam constituency in support of Jignesh Mewani who is contesting the polls from there as an Independent. The Congress ticket was first issued to Manilal Vaghela who will now contest from Idar seat.

BJP's Final List

The BJP declared its final list of 34 candidates on Monday morning, after declaring candidates’ names through the phone throughout Sunday.

The final list saw Bhupendra Patel’s name from Ghatlodia constituency in Ahmedabad; former CM Anandiben Patel is the sitting MLA from Ghatlodia.

Former BJP minister Jaynarayan Vyas will contest the polls from Siddhpur, from where he had lost the 2012 Assembly Elections.

The BJP issued tickets to former Congress MLA Tejashariben Patel, who joined the saffron party along with Kanu Makvana, the son of former Congress MLA Karamshi Makvana, after he moved to the BJP during the Rajya Sabha polls. In its sixth and final list, the party has given tickets to 12 sitting MLAs.

Senior leader Kaushik Patel will contest from Naranpura constituency in Ahmedabad, which was earlier represented by BJP president Amit Shah; Shah had resigned as MLA after his election to the Rajya Sabha.

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