Congress releases list of 77 candidates

GANDHINAGAR: Congress released its first list of 77 candidates for Gujarat assembly elections late on Sunday night.

The party has fielded Indranil Rajyaguru against chief minister Vijay Rupani from Rajkot West. Former Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modvadia has been renominated form Porbandar against BJP heavyweight Babu Bokhiria. Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Lalit Vasoya will contest from Dhoraji.

Young and popular Patidar face of Congress, Paresh Dhanani, has been repeated from Amreli, while former Union minister Tushar Chaudhary has been fielded from Mahuva constituency in South Gujarat. Lone Muslim candidate in Congress list, Mahammad Javed Pirzada, has been fielded from Wankaner in Saurashtra.

Earlier in the day, Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki reiterated that he would not contest the forthcoming elections and would work for all 182 candidates fielded by his party and alliance partners.

Before declaring candidates, Congress leaders held meeting with PAAS leaders in Congress Bhavan. While senior leaders of the party described the meeting as productive, the details of the meeting and the way forward would be disclosed by PAAS leader Hardik Patel in Rajkot on Monday.

Congress is locked in a bitter contest with BJP in the state which has been under the saffron party’s rule for over two decades.

The election is to be held in two phases on December 9 and 14, and its result will be announced on December 18.