Trouble brews in Congress over ticket

He claimed that he had also conveyed this to the high-command.

In the meantime, highly reliable party sources told Express Newsline from Delhi that the high-command was yet to finalise the candidates for Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Vadodara, Dhandhuka, and Bharuch till Sunday evening. Congress state unit president C.D. Patel, camping at Gujarat Bhavan in New Delhi, said the list was expected to be announced on Monday.

He said the “high-command would take a final decision”, but sources confirmed that of the two names for which the JD(G) faction had kicked up a ruckus, Virji Thummar is a front-runner while Urmilaben Patel’s name was being debated while going to press.

On Saturday, four senior members of the JD(G) faction had faxed a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, stating that they had information about the party ignoring Virji Thummar for Amreli and former Rajya Sabha member Urmilaben Patel for Vadodara. They had threatened to desist from campaigning if they were dropped. The signatories included Mehta, former deputy chief minister Narhari Amin, and senior leaders Jairambhai Patel and Brahmkumar Bhatt.

Asked why had the letter not mentioned their arguments about Saurashtra, Mehta claimed “the letter spoke of only those who could win, while those ignored for Saurashtra could have provided stiff competition to the BJP. If the present names are finalised, it will prove a cakewalk for the BJP.”

He reiterated that Urmilaben Patel deserved a ticket for she was a Rajya Sabha member and should have been considered for Lok Sabha if she had not been re-nominated to the Upper House, while Thummar is a strong candidate. He denied that the JD(G) group was once again trying to exercise their separate identity in the party and said: “We are talking about merits of candidates.”

Mehta said names of Daulatsinh Jadeja, father of cricket star Ajay Jadeja, from Jamnagar, Vitthal Radadiya from Rajkot, Chandu Patel from Porbander, Pethalji Chawda from Junagadh, Savsi Makwana from Surendranagar, Ruxana Gilani from Bhavnagar have emerged, “and they are all messengers of disaster.”

Asked if he agreed with Mehta, C.D Patel only said, “The high command only sees the merits of candidates.” He refused a further discussion, and denied any knowledge of what Mehta had conveyed to the high-command about the Saurashtra situation.

When contacted, Amin said, “Our concern was the two whose names we gave in the letter. About the Saurashtra region, Mehta could explain better.” He reiterated that they “wouldn’t have any interest in campaigning if Thummar and Patel are denied tickets.”

Meanwhile, C.D. Patel has denied that film actress Zeenat Aman would contest from Ahmedabad constituency, as reported in some newspapers on Sunday. He refused to comment on whether she was considered at all by the party high-command to contest from Gujarat on a Congress ticket. However, party sources in Delhi said Zeenat’s name had figured during discussions but later it didn’t work out.