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officials this evening and handed over a representation. Sisodia alleged that AAP candidate from Surat (East) Kanchan Jariwala was “forced to withdraw” his nomination when he went to the returning officer’s office.
An EC spokesperson said AAP’s representation has been sent to the CEO in Gujarat to inquire and take “action as warranted”.
Earlier in the day, AAP alleged that Jariwala was abducted at the behest of the BJP, which “feared” a defeat on the seat in the Gujarat assembly election. Jariwala, however, issued a video statement in which he purportedly said he withdrew his nomination without any pressure and by listening to his conscience after the people of his constituency labelled him “anti-national” and “anti-Gujarat” for contesting the election from the AAP.
Sisodia claimed Jariwala had been missing along with his family members since Tuesday, adding that the last time the candidate was seen at the Election Commission’s office in Surat during scrutiny of his nomination papers.
Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the 40 star campaigners the party announced for the Gujarat assembly elections. Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, has not campaigned so far in the poll-bound states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, the chief ministers of Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, are also among the star campaigners for the December 1 and 5 polls in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Tuesday, the AAP released its 17th list of four candidates for the next month’s assembly polls in Gujarat, covering all but one seat in the 182-member House. After the latest list, just one Assembly seat – Bhavnagar West – is left for which the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has not yet declared its candidate.
The party announced names of candidates for Kheralu, Visnagar, Mansa and Padra Assembly seats. Of these, it changed the name of candidate for Padra in Vadodara district. As per the latest list, the AAP has fielded Dinesh Thakor from Kheralu, Jayanti Patel from Visnagar, Bhaskar Patel from Mansa and Sandeep Singh Raj from Padra.
Kejriwal’s outfit, seeking to emerge as the main political rival of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat, started releasing the names of candidates from August itself. The AAP has fielded four women and three Muslims in its candidates for 181 seats.
(with inputs from PTI)
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