New Delhi: Congress on Friday released its first list of 43 candidates ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, news agency PTI reported.
According to the list, former Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modhwadiya has been fielded from Porbandar, Himanshu Patel from Gandhinagar South, Hiteshbhai Vora from Rajkot South and former Union Minister Bharat Solanki from Gandhidham.
Congress party announces the first list of 43 candidates for #GujaratElections2022 pic.twitter.com/PGBhmcYfdi
— ANI (@ANI) November 4, 2022
Earlier during the day, party president Mallikarjun Kharge chaired a meeting of the Congress central election committee (CEC) during which several candidates for the upcoming assembly polls were finalised.
Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi joined the meeting online, while the rest of the participants attended it physically at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi.
It is to be noted that CEC members and party general secretaries Mukul Wasnik and K C Venugopal, besides Mohsina Kidwai, Girija Vyas and Ambika Soni, were among those present at the meeting.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Gujarat Raghu Sharma and the Congress state unit chief, Jagdish Thakor, also took part in the meeting.
Notably, the Congress is seeking to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from government in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the saffron party has been in power for over two decades.
Meanwhile, ahead of the polls, former MLA Indranil Rajguru quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the Congress alleging that the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit was working as a “B-team” of the BJP in the state.
Rajguru, who had joined the AAP after quitting the Congress in April this year, returned to the grand old party, citing that it was the best option for defeating the BJP in Gujarat. The former MLA was reportedly upset over not being made the AAP’s chief ministerial face.
Rajguru joined the Congress in the presence of AICC Gujarat incharge Raghu Sharma, Gujarat Congress chief Jagdish Thakor, Congress legislature party leader Sukhram Rathava and other senior leaders.
Elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases — December 1 and 5 — while the votes will be counted on December 8.