Congress sources said that Avsar Nakia, Natha Vasani and Mansukh Zapadiya are the frontrunners for the party ticket.Despite being its traditional stronghold, the Congress has not named its candidate to take on BJP minister Kunvarji Bavaliya. The party is most likely to announce its candidate on Monday, the last day of filing of nomination.
While officially, the Congress said that it was withholding the name of its candidate as part of a strategy, party insiders said that the delay was due to the apprehension of possible attempts from the BJP to influence Congress candidate.
“We have submitted the names of possible candidates to the party high command and a decision on it will be taken in a day or two. It is certain that our candidate will file the nominations on Monday,” said Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi.
“Should the BJP, which has borrowed its candidate from us, ask us to declare our candidate? Will the BJP decide who should be our candidate? Congress will give a candidate who will be acceptable to people of Jasdan and who will work for them. But as a part of a strategy, we are holding back his name,” he added. He said that all party MLAs from Saurashtra have been asked to remain present at the office of Returning Officer on Monday.
However, a party leader, on condition of anonymity, said the party has decided to field a Koli candidate, “but it is fraught with risks to declare his name before time”. “We have to protect him from poaching or threats of the BJP. Or he might even be framed in some case and be arrested. There is also a possibility that the BJP might buy him with a heap of cash. Therefore, the name would be made public at the very last moment,” said a Congress leader.
Congress sources said that Avsar Nakia, Natha Vasani and Mansukh Zapadiya are the frontrunners for the party ticket. While Nakia is a sitting member of Rajkot district panchyat, Vasani is the husband of former sarpanch of Amrapur village and a bete noire of Bavaliya. Zapadiya is a young Congress worker from Ajmer village.
Meanwhile, half a dozen Congress leaders are among the 61 persons who have collected 91 nomination forms, Returning Officer Amit Chaudhary said. They include Nakia, Somabhai Patel, Gajendra Ramani and Ranjit Meniya. Former MLA Bhola Gohil and Congress MLA from Dhoraji, Lalit Vasoya also collected nomination forms on Friday.
Predicting victory in Jasdan, the BJP said that the Congress has sensed defeat and therefore the party is withholding the name of its candidate. “BJP will sweep the bye-election this time,” BJP spokesman Bharat Pandya said.
