New Delhi: In a move to give a tough fight to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi
in Maninagar, Congress plans to put up a "serious" candidate against him in next
month's Assembly polls.
Party sources said the Congress did not want to "trivialise" the fight in Maninagar
and therefore would be putting up a "serious" candidate against Modi, who could be
an academician or from judiciary.
There are several names under consideration for the seat and a final decision would
be taken after consulting Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the sources
said.
Party circles said that several names including that of former Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) MLA Yatin Oza, who joined the Congress sometime back, was doing the
rounds. A senior party leader also had a telephonic talk with noted danseuse Mallika
Sarabhai a few days back but it was unclear whether her name was being considered,
they said.
Party sources said that besides nominating "large" number of members from the Other
Backward Categories (OBCs), Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST),
a "sizable" number of tickets have also been given to those from the influential
Patel community, which mostly sided with the BJP in the last Assembly
polls.
Meanwhile, party general secretary in-charge of Gujarat, Kamal Nath, told reporters
that the delay in declaration of the remaining 17 candidates by the party was part
of a strategy and denied suggestions that it was due to factionalism.
PTI
