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The Congress on Sunday night released its first list of 77 candidates for phase one of the Gujarat Assembly polls, with senior leaders from the state, Arjun Modhwadia and Shaktisinh Gohil, getting tickets for the crucial election.
However, after the list was released, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) members expressed anger and started protesting in many parts of the state, claiming they were not given proper representation.
The two who have been given tickets are Lalit Vasoya from Dhoraji and Amit Thummar from Junagadh seat.
Out of the total candidates nominated, 11 belong to the scheduled tribe (ST) category and seven are from the scheduled caste (SC) category.
The Congress leadership had held discussions on all the Assembly segments in the state at the party's central election committee meeting held two days ago.
The party is in talks with the NCP and breakaway faction of the JD(U) led by Sharad Yadav. It is also in discussions to have a poll arrangement with Patidar and OBC leaders, Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor respectively, party sources said.
The Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP after a hiatus of over two decades in Gujarat.
The saffron party has already declared its two lists of candidates for the first phase, fielding 106 candidates so far.
The Congress accused the BJP of circulating a fake list of initial candidates before the Congress could release its official list. Gujarat Congress President Bharatsinh Solanki on Twitter, said:
Manish Doshi, Congress spokesperson at a press conference demanded an explanation from the BJP.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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Published: 19 Nov 2017,11:15 PM IST