Nomination of 24 Cong(I) candidates rejected in Gujarat

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR, AUG. 29. Groupism in the Congress(I) in Gujarat has cost the party at least 24 seats in the 99-member Surat Municipal Corporation even before the electioneering began. Besides, the party's city unit President, Mr. Pratap Kanthariya, himself did not file his nomination. The nomination papers of the party's 24 candidates were rejected in the scrutiny because they did not carry the party's authorisation letters.

The ruling BJP which had won 98 of the 99 seats in the last elections with one seat going to an independent, has again began with an advantage with five of its candidates from the women's reserved constituencies likely to be returned unopposed. Following the rejection of the Congress(I) candidates' nomination papers, the BJP also managed to persuade the independents in these constituencies to withdraw paving the way for their return uncontested. They could be formally declared elected after the last date of withdrawal of nominations tomorrow.

The rival factions, one led by the Pradesh Congress(I) President, Mr. C. D. Patel, and the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Mr. Amarsinh Chaudhary, and the other led by the former External Affairs Minister, Mr. Madhavsinh Solanki, are blaming each other for the fiasco in Surat and the matter has reached the party high command in Delhi.

According to a spokesman of the official faction, the unruly behaviour of Mr. Solanki's supporters in front of the city Congress(I) office on the last date of filing nominations was responsible for the party losing 24 seats even before the electioneering began. Supporters of the Solanki faction, he claimed, had kept the city President under gherao in the party office till 3 p.m. and did not allow him to go the Collectorate to file his own nomination papers nor allowed him to send the authorisation letters to the 24 other candidates before the nomination closed that day.

``The Solanki faction is out to destroy the party in the State and the behaviour of its supporters in Surat was a clear indication they had scant regard for the party,'' the spokesman said.

But the former Minister and a strong supporter of Mr. Solanki, Mr. Navin Shastri, has rejected the official faction's contentions. ``The responsibility for the proper planning to take care of the small details of the electioneering rest with the PCC(I) leadership,'' he said.

Mr. Shastri denied that Mr. Solanki's supporters had gheraoed Mr. Kanthariya. The leaders named by the official faction having gheraoed him were not even present in Surat that day, he claimed and demanded that the PCC(I) inquire who were responsible for the party's fiasco in filing the nominations. He maintained that the official faction was encouraging groupism in the party by denying a fair share of the ticket to other groups.

The official faction, however, is feeling concerned over the possible joining of hands between Mr. Solanki and the former Chief Minister, Mr. Shankarsinh Waghela, both disheartened with the official faction over the distribution of ticket in the civic elections. Mr. Solanki was instrumental in bringing Mr. Waghela in the Congress(I) but the two fell out after the former Union Minister rebelled against the leadership and organised parallel conventions. The two held an hour-long meeting in Gandhinagar last night apparently to discuss the strategy to corner the official faction during the selection of candidates for the panchayat elections scheduled on September 24.

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