Congress yet to announced 9 Gujarat candidates, Amreli could be the next trouble area

Ahmedabad, 20 March 2014

Congress party that has declared its candidate for 18 out of a total 26 seats in Gujarat is yet to announce candidates for Patan, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad East, Porbandar, Amreli, Panchmahal, Bharuch, Surat, and Navsari.

Meanwhile, after Banaskantha, Panchmahal and Kutch, another area of trouble for Congress could be Amreli.

The party is yet to make any announcement on Amreli, where former MP Virji Thumar had staked claim on Dhuleti day saying he had been selected by the party for the Amreli seat. Thumar claimed on Monday that Congress state in-charge Gurudas Kamat had conveyed the decision taken by the party over a phone call. Thumar started celebrating the news with his supporters on Dhuleti and said he would start his campaign immediately. Thumar was Amreli MP before 2009. He was denied ticket in 2009 general elections and was replaced with his wife Nila Thumar.

Since Thumar’s name didn’t appear in the recent list, it is believed that the Congress is not happy with Thumar for crossing the party line.

Sitting Amreli MLA Paresh Dhanani is another contender than Thumar. He was inducted to party’s national team last year. There are chances that the Congress may select Dhanani over Thumar for the Amreli seat.

In that case Thumar and his supporters will be in embarrassing situation and their reaction will have to be watched out.