Vaghela's new front to contest all 182 seats in Gujarat

Shankersinh Vaghela, who quit the Congress party in July, on Tuesday announced that he will lead a new political ‘front’  — the Jan Vikalp (people’s alternative) — that will contest all the 182-Gujarat Assembly seats in the upcoming polls.

This is set to make the Gujarat Assembly polls a multi-cornered fight if the Aam Aadmi Partyalso fields candidates, and should help eat into the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) votes. The Congress is set to  lead an alliance of other smaller parties.

The Gujarat unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) might also join hands with Vaghela. The two legislators of the NCP had voted against Congress leader Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat in August. On Monday, acting president of the rebel Janata Dal (United), Chhotubhai Vasava, said his party, along with the Left parties, will contest the polls in an alliance led by the Congress. Vasava’s vote was crucial to ensure Ahmed Patel’s win.

Vasava had defied the orders of his party Chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to vote for the Congress leader. In Ahmedabad, Vaghela said the new political ‘front was floated by some city-based “professionals”, who approached him to provide an alternative to the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress in Gujarat, and claimed a number of people wanted to see him as the chief minister.

In another development, Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) on Tuesday pushed for the disqualification from the Rajya Sabha of dissident party MPs Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar.

The Congress and Left parties have asked the Rajya Sabha chairman to refer the matter to the Ethics and Privileges Committee.