Gujarat polls: Dissent within Congress

Dissent within the Congress ranks over the distribution of tickets for the coming Gujarat assembly elections came to the fore on Thursday, with a member of Parliament (MP) from that state approaching newly-appointed Congress election coordination committee chief Rahul Gandhi over the issue.

On Wednesday, within two hours of announcing its second list of 46 candidates in the state, the Congress had withdrawn it.

Soon after the Lok Sabha was adjourned in the morning on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi was seen listening to Jamnagar MP Vikram Madam, as the party’s screening committee chairperson for Gujarat, C P Joshi, looked on. A vocal Madam reportedly informed Rahul Gandhi of the grievances of local leaders who had been overlooked in the selection process. Rahul Gandhi reportedly assured Madam the matter would be looked into.

Three of the four Congress MPs from Saurashtra—Kunwarjibhai Bavaliya from Botad, Vitthalbhai Radadia from Dhoraji and Somabhai G Patel from Limbdi—would contest the assembly polls.

By noon on Thursday, the Congress media division notified the second list of 46 candidates had been withdrawn. Last night, after consultations with senior leader Ahmed Patel (also from Gujarat), Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhwadia had declared the second list had been withdrawn.

Several Congress leaders from Gujarat are unhappy over the selection of candidates, a process being overseen by C P Joshi. On condition of anonymity, a party leader said, “At this rate, we will be putting up only our own relatives, wives and children as candidates. If we really want to give a tough fight to Narendra Modi, what about first recognising the hardworking party workers on the ground? It is they who should get tickets.”

The names of Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia and Congress Legislature Party leader Shaktisinh Gohil were included in the first list of 52 candidates; Modhwadia would contest from Porbandar, while Gohil would contest from the Bhavnagar rural area. The party has to bring out its second list by November 24, the last date for filing nominations. The assembly elections in Gujarat would be held in two phases—December 13 and 17.