Ahmedabad: Congress party will finalize the list of its candidates for the next year’s assembly polls in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by mid-January, AICC general secretary and state party in-charge Gurudas Kamat today said.

Mr Kamat said that the application process for the ticket aspirants was already over and the names would now be short-listed by the screening committee of the AICC.

He said that the names would be finalized by mid-January in all likelihood.
To a query as to when the names will be announced and whether it will be done all ‘at one go’ or in phased manner, the Congress leader said the party high command will take a call on it.

‘The names will be finalized by the middle of the next month but whether to announce them after the announcement of poll schedule by the election commission or before that and whether in phased manner or at one go will be high command’s decision. The party leadership will take a call on that,’ he said

Earlier addressing a press conference here on the issue of demonetization he said that the party was ready for an early election in the state. ‘We are ready for the elections whenever it is held be it February, March or April,’ he said.

The party had earlier said that it wanted to give ample time to its candidates and announce the list a year in advance ie in December this year as per the due election date.

Terming the demonetization move an utter failure and most foolish decision, Mr Kamat reiterated his party’s demand of a thorough probe of it by a joint parliamentary committee and inquiry by the ED, CBI and IT in to the alleged giving of crores of rupees by Sahara and Birla groups to Prime MInister Modi. He said that his party is going to start a nation wide agitation regarding the demands.

DeshGujarat