Congress finalises 70 names for first phase of Gujarat polls

A supporter wearing the mask of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during his public meeting in Bharuch on Wednesday.

In a meeting of that lasted barely 45 minutes, Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) on Friday cleared the names of 70 candidates for the first phase of Gujarat polls.

The meeting was presided over by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. This was her first major political engagement in the past two weeks after she was advised rest to recover from an upset stomach.

The names of the candidates are likely, however, to be made public only by next Thursday, according to sources.

Of the 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat, 89 will go to polls in the first phase on December 9.

For the Congress party, which is putting up its strongest challenge to the BJP in the past two decades, the process of candidate-selection has been of utmost importance.

Two-three contenders are being considered for each seat before one name is zeroed in on. Two screening panels have prepared a shortlist of probable candidates.

Sources say the selection of candidates will have to be a careful affair. On the one hand, it will have to accommodate the interests of various communities such as the Patels, Dalits and OBCs ( Alpesh Thakor has joined the party recently) and ensure the party in Gujarat stays united.

Party insiders claim the Congress list will have a clear stamp of Rahul Gandhi as he has been involved in every aspect of the Gujarat polls.

On Saturday, the Congress vice-president will be back to campaign in North Gujarat and, as part of Congress' Navsarjan Yatra, will visit the well known Ambaji temple in the Banaskantha.