PremiumThe list has some prominent names including Bharat V Solanki from Gandhidham, Ameeben Yagnik from Ghatlodia and Arjun Modhwadiya from Porbandar.
Congress has announced the first list of 43 candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls to be held next month.
The list has some prominent names including Bharat V Solanki from Gandhidham, Ameeben Yagnik from Ghatlodia and Arjun Modhwadiya from Porbandar.
The party fielded Ramesh Bhai Dangar from Anjar, Sanjaybhai Govabjhai Rabari from Deesa and Himanshu V Patel from Gandhinagar South.
Of the 43 seats for which the opposition party has declared its candidates, only one seat, Jhalod (ST) of Dahod district, is currently held by it.
Instead of the sitting MLA Bhavesh Katara, the party has chosen Mitesh Garasiya from Jhalod. Garasiya was the Congress MLA in the previous term 2012-17.
The first list of candidates features seven women, including Yagnik. Some former MLAs also managed to get tickets this time.
Vadodara Congress leader Narendra Ravat's wife and leader of opposition in the BJP-ruled Vadodara Municipal Corporation Amee Ravat has been chosen for the Sayajigunj seat of the city.
Former Congress MLA of Jasdan seat Bholabhai Gohel has been given the party ticket again. Gohel had joined the BJP after he was denied ticket in 2017 but he returned to the Congress in 2018.
Senior party leader and former BJP MLA from Mahuva seat of Bhavnagar, Kanubhai Kalsariya, has been chosen by the Congress for the same seat. He contested the 2017 poll as an Independent but lost to the BJP's Raghav Makwana by nearly 5,000 votes.
Former MLA Dhirubhai Bhil has been given ticket for Sankheda (ST) seat, which he had lost to the BJP in 2017.
The first list has 10 Patel or Patidar faces, 11 tribals, 10 OBCs and five SCs.
The ruling BJP has yet not declared its candidates, the new entrant AAP has declared its candidates for 118 seats. AAP also announced Isudan Gadhvi, a former TV anchor as its chief ministerial candidate from the party.
The polling for Gujarat assembly elections will take place in two phases, Phase 1 on December 1 and Phase 2 on December 5. The counting of votes will take place on December 8. The Congress faces a stiff challenge in Gujarat as the BJP has been in power in the state for 27 years. The Congress is also facing a challenge from Aam Aadmi Party.
Earlier in 2017, the BJP had won 99 seats, while the Congress won 77, winning 49.05 percent and 42.97 percent of the votes, respectively.
The Election Commission had also said it was setting up over 1200 polling stations, especially for women. To encourage young voters, 33 stations will be manned by the youngest of EC employees while 182 stations will be manned by persons with disabilities.
“A total of 51,782 polling stations will be set up across Gujarat. Of these, 1,274 will be managed by women polling and security personnel," the Election Commission said.
Also, home voting facility will be there for 80 years + & PwD voter, with benchmark 40 percent disability. There are over 4.9 crore eligible voters in total in Gujarat, including 4.6 lakh first time voters.
The term of the Gujarat assembly ends on February 18, 2023 and the elections have been announced 110 days in advance.
Gujarat's election spiced up by the AAP's entry as the BJP looks to continue its uninterrupted winning streak there since 1995 while the main opposition Congress works to amp up its campaign.
(With inputs from ANI)