Gujarat polls: Gohil, Modhwadia in Congress' first list

Senior Congress leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Arjun Modhwadia figure in the party's first list of 77 candidates for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections on December 9. As per the list finalised by the Congress' Central Election Committee on Sunday, senior leader and sitting MLA from Abdasa, Shaktisinh Gohil, has been fielded for Mandvi seat. Another senior Congressman and former leader of opposition Arjun Modhwadia will fight the polls from Porbandar seat against Gujarat Minister Babu Bokhiria. Out of the total 77 candidates, eight of them are from the OBC community, 23 are Patels, seven are from the Dalit community and 12 are from the Koli community.

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Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convener and leader Lalit Vasoya will contest Dhoraji seat. PAAS conveners Dilip Sabwa and Manoj Panara, whose names the Patel group claimed were included, do not figure in the list. The Rajkot West seat will see Indranil Rajguru, sitting MLA from Rajkot (East), pitted against Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. He has been challenging the Chief Minister for a long time.