Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki today said the Congress party in Gujarat will not ally with Sharad Pawar led Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) for upcoming assembly elections.

Solanki said NCP has been operating like B-team of BJP in Gujarat.

Solanki also said that soon screening committee will be formed and Congress party will declare its candidates for the Gujarat assembly polls in three phases.

It’s worth noting here that NCP has time and again indicated that it is in no mood to ally with Congress party in Gujarat polls this time, considering the bitter experience it had in previous Gujarat polls in which Congress had fielded own candidate even on the seats allocated to NCP. Congress believes that both NCP MLAs in Gujarat voted against Congress candidate Ahmed Patel in recently concluded Rajya Sabha polls. NCP has also held several public meetings in the areas where Congress is strong in local assembly segments. Typically if NCP fields its candidate in such assembly seats, there’s likelihood of division of anti-BJP votes which ultimately benefits the BJP.

It should be noted here that All India Congress Committee(AICC) had formed a ticket distribution screening committee for Gujarat polls in 2012 in the month of July. Congress had made CP Joshi as head of screening committee for Gujarat polls in 2012. Joshi had earlier in 2011 headed screening committee in Punjab.

Screening committee for Punjab election in 2016 was headed by Ashok Gehlot. He has been earlier this year made incharge of Gujarat Congress.

Screening committee which plays important role in ticket distribution includes Congress incharge of state, Congress state president, leader of the legislative party and one or two other members. In 2012 screening committee this other member was then MoS in Centre RPN Singh. In Punjab polls last year, Rahul Gandhi confidents Rajiv Satav and Meenakshi Natarajan were screening committee members. Rahul has handed over responsibility of Saurashtra region to Satav for Gujarat polls.

DeshGujarat