The Congress on Sunday night released its first list of 77 candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections, fielding prominent leaders except state unit chief Bharat Solanki, who has opted out of the race.
Among the 77 candidates are Shaktisinh Gohil from Mandvi Assembly seat, Arjun Modhvadia (Porbandar), Somabhai Patel (Limdi), Kiran Thakor (Bharuch) and Tushar Chaudhary (Mahuva).
The Battle Royale will be in Rajkot West where Congress' Indranil Rajyaguru will take on Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. AICC secretary Paresh Dhanani, a close confidant of Rahul Gandhi, has been fielded from Amreli.
PAAS leaders Lalit Vasoya and Amit Thummar will contest from Dhoraji and Junagadh seats respectively.
The list was announced after protracted negotiations between PAAS leader Hardik Patel and Congress. The first list has as many as 23 patidar candidates, 12 from the Koli community, 8 OBCs and 7 Dalits.
The release of the list witnessed some drama as a 'fake list' was circulated among media persons on Sunday evening. Solanki was quick to point out that the list carrying his signature was fake as Congress releases its candidates from Delhi after being cleared by the party's Central Election Committee.
Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi claimed that the font used in the 'fake list' was similar to the one used by the BJP on its website.
