Cong Releases First Candidate List for Gujarat Polls, PAAS Unhappy

Senior leaders from the state like Shaktisinh Gohil have got tickets, whereas only two PAAS members are on the list.

Congress vice-president in Vadodara in Gujarat in October. 

(Photo: IANS)

The Congress on Sunday night released its first list of 77 candidates for phase one of the Gujarat Assembly polls, with senior leaders from the state, Arjun Modhwadia and Shaktisinh Gohil, getting tickets for the crucial election.

However, after the list was released, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) members expressed anger and started protesting in many parts of the state, claiming they were not given proper representation.

Two PAAS members were given tickets in the released list, while the Hardik Patel-led organisation had demanded 20 seats. Around 20 other Patel candidates, who are not members of the PAAS, also find mention in the list.

The two who have been given tickets are Lalit Vasoya from Dhoraji and Amit Thummar from Junagadh seat.

Out of the total candidates nominated, 11 belong to the scheduled tribe (ST) category and seven are from the scheduled caste (SC) category.

The Congress leadership had held discussions on all the Assembly segments in the state at the party's central election committee meeting held two days ago.

The party is in talks with the NCP and breakaway faction of the JD(U) led by Sharad Yadav. It is also in discussions to have a poll arrangement with Patidar and OBC leaders, Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor respectively, party sources said.

The Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP after a hiatus of over two decades in Gujarat.

The saffron party has already declared its two lists of candidates for the first phase, fielding 106 candidates so far.

Congress Accuses BJP of Circulating a False List

The Congress accused the BJP of circulating a fake list of initial candidates before the Congress could release its official list. Gujarat Congress President Bharatsinh Solanki on Twitter, said:

Manish Doshi, Congress spokesperson at a press conference demanded an explanation from the BJP.

Congress’ letter pad and signatures of our president have been misused to circulate false list on social media. Upon investigation by our IT cell, it was found the same phone used for BJP’s website was also used to circulate the list. BJP must answer why did it resort to such gimmick and circulated the false list. It must apologise to the public.

(With inputs from PTI.)