The first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections will be held on 9 December – hardly a fortnight away. Yet, both major parties in the state – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress – have not declared their list of candidates. This is quite unprecedented for any political party, especially during peak election season.
However, sources in the know have claimed that the BJP is likely to declare their list on Sunday, 19 November. They also claimed that the BJP have already prepped their list, but are holding their cards close to the chest.
This week saw political turmoil across Gujarat after the Patidar reservation leader Hardik Patel’s alleged sex tapes were released on social media. The BJP was quick to latch on to the opportunity.
The party tried to discredit the entire Patidar agitation claiming their leader has no morals.
With the scandal going viral, the BJP is hopeful of making positive inroads into the Patidar mindset, after falling from grace right after the Patidar Maha Rally held in Ahmedabad in August 2015.
The party had also recently quelled the Rajput rage in the state by settling the feud between state party President Jitu Vaghani and Rajput leader Dansangh Mori last week. Yet, Mori is still expecting a public apology from Vaghani. The BJP is heavily counting on its Rajput vote bank this election should the Patidar vote swing in the Congress’ favour.
Deadline: 21 November
As the wait continues for the list of candidates, the two major parties seem to be in no hurry.
What is the rush? The candidates list has to be declared before 21 November by both the parties. Thus, it will be out over the weekend.Dr Jaynarayan Vyas, BJP spokesperson
Even the Congress has not declared its list till now, said Bharat Pandya, another BJP spokesperson.
The national spokesperson of the BJP will declare the list of candidates at the right time.Bharat Pandya
The Congress, on the other hand, is following the BJP’s footsteps.
Rahul Gandhi has so far been impressive in his rallies and speeches, irking the BJP to such an extent that politicians from the saffron party have started questioning the number of times the Congress vice president has visited temples during his tour of Gujarat. However, the Hardik sex tapes jolted the grand old party, who were in talks with the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, or PAAS, to formulate a quota system for the Patidar community.
Has the BJP declared their list of candidates? The Congress is looking at all the nominations filed, and we will declare the list over the weekend. The list will be available on the AICC website very soon.Manish Doshi, GPCC spokesperson
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