Congress puts its assembly leader Dhanani in Amreli Lok Sabha race

The Gujarat assembly’s leader of the opposition, Paresh Dhanani, filed his nomination from the Amreli Lok Sabha seat on Wednesday, a day on which the Congress declared ten candidates from Gujarat. It was the penultimate day for filing nominations. Without announcing the names of the candidates formally, the party leadership orally directed the candidates to file their nominations. Winnability appears to be the overriding consideration in naming Dhanani and the other candidates.

The Congress has taken considerable time to finalize the candidates. It appears the party wants to consolidate its gains in the 2017 assembly election by fielding sitting MLAs on Lok Sabha constituencies.

Dhanani has defeated BJP bigwigs Parshottam Rupala, Dileep Sanghani, and Bavku Anghad in the past. Sitting MLA Virji Thummar had demanded the Amreli ticket.

The battle lines have been drawn for the Gandhinagar seat, where BJP chief Amit Shah is contesting. The Congress has fielded C J Chavda against Shah. Sitting MLA from the Gandhinagar North assembly seat, Chavda is seen to be the Congress’s best bet against Shah, given his long experience as MLA and his oratory skills. "I promise it will be a close fight," Chavda said. "My task is to win as many votes as possible from Naranpura, Ghatlodia and Sabarmati segments, where the Congress is weak."

The Congress fielded sitting Limbdi MLA Soma Patel (Koli) as its candidate for the Surendranagar Lok Sabha seat. He will contest against Mahendra Munjapara, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election for the first time. Both Soma Patel and Munjapara are from the Koli community.

Against the sitting MP Poonam Maadam of the the BJP, the Congress has pitted the lesser-known Mulu Kandoriya in the Jamnagar Lok Sabha constituency. Both Maadam and Kandoriya are from the Ahir community and Kandoriya is known to enjoy the support of rural voters.

In a surprise move, the Congress gave the Banaskantha ticket to former Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation chairman Parthi Bhatol. He had quit the BJP after being denied a ticket. Bhatol’s son Vasant Bhatol, who is a former MLA, also quit the BJP on Wednesday. Sitting Congress MLA from Modasa, Rajendrasinh Thakor has been given the Sabarkantha Lok Sabha ticket by the Congress. He is said to have a reasonably good following in the Thakor community.

For the Ahmedabad (East) seat, the Congress has fielded Hardik Patel aide Geeta Patel. Geeta Patel had contested the municipal corporation election on a Congress ticket, but had lost. On Wednesday evening, the party told a former BJP minister, Bimal Shah, to file his nomination from the Kheda seat. Earlier, the sitting Kapadvanj MLA, Kala Dabhi, was told to file his nomination for the same seat. Now Shah will take on the BJP’s sitting MP, Devusinh Chauhan. Shah had quit the BJP in 2017 after being denied a ticket. He joined the Congress a few months ago.

Prominent industrialist Ashok Patel has been given the Surat ticket. Patel will contest against the sitting MP Darshana Jardosh of the BJP. Manhar Patel, the spokesperson of the Congress party, has been nominated for the Bhavnagar Lok Sabha seat. A former NCP leader, Patel joined the Congress before the 2017 assembly poll. He will contest against the sitting BJP MP, Bharti Shiyal.

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