Ex-BJP MLA’s daughters among 18 to contest from Congress

Vadodara: The Congress on Sunday night released its first list of 18 candidates for the upcoming Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) elections, fielding two daughters of former BJP MLA Madhu Shrivastava.With the entry of the Shrivastava sisters, the family now has three members in the fray, including Leader of Opposition in the VMC Chandrakant Shrivastava, popularly known as Bhattu.The first list includes candidates from 10 different wards, with the party announcing complete four-member panels in wards 15 and 16. Madhu Shrivastava's daughters Deepa Shrivastava and Neelam Nigam have been fielded from wards 14 and 15, respectively. Chandrakant Shrivastava, who has been a councillor since 1985, has been repeated from his stronghold in ward 16.Interestingly, despite being cousins, Madhu and Chandrakant Shrivastava have long been in rival parties — Madhu with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Chandrakant with the Indian National Congress. With the latest nominations, members of the extended Shrivastava family are contesting from three different wards in the eastern parts of the city, strengthening their influence in local politics.The Congress has also fielded former BJP councillors Ashish Joshi and Parul Patel from ward 15, both of whom were earlier suspended by the BJP. Corporators from the previous VMC board Balasaheb alias Balu Surve and Alka Patel have been renominated from wards 13 and 16, respectively.Another former corporator, Jagruti Rana, has been given a ticket from ward 7, from where she was elected in 2015.Among other notable candidates, Swejal Vyas has been fielded from ward 8. Vyas was earlier associated with the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and the Aam Aadmi Party, and later gained visibility as a civic activist raising local issues.The party has also nominated Kruti Raval, wife of Congress spokesperson Nishant Raval, from ward 3.Meanwhile, the Congress is still finalising its candidates for ward 1, considered a party bastion where it won all four seats in the last two civic elections. However, the reshuffle in caste reservations for seats in the ward has complicated the party's candidate selection process.