Gujarat elections: Congress fields Jignesh Mevani from Vadgam; Check 5th, 6th list here

Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch convenor and Dalit leader Mevani won the 2017 assembly elections as an independent candidate from Vadgam seat in Banaskantha district of Gujarat. The Vadgam constituency had a sizeable population of Dalits.

Before the 2017 elections, Mevani appealed to other parties not to field candidates from Vadgam, saying that their fight was against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Therefore, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) withdrew and supported their candidates.

In September this year, mevani In a 2016 riots case, he was sentenced to six months in jail along with 18 years.

On Sunday, the Congress released its fifth list with six candidates including Manhar Patel from Botad in place of Ramesh Mer. Later, it also released a list of 33 candidates, taking the total number of candidates declared so far to 142.

In the fifth list, the Congress has fielded Jayanthi Jerjbhai Patel from Morbi, Jeevan Kumbharvadia from Jamnagar Rural, Chhattarsinh Gunjariya from Dhrangadhra, Mansukhbhai Kalaria from Rajkot West and Divyesh Chavda from Gariadhar.

In the sixth list of 33 candidates, Congress has nominated Mevani from Vadgam (SC) seat, Thakor Mohansingh from Mansa, Baldevji Thakor from Kalol, Imran Khedawala from Jamalpur-Kharia, Amit Chavda from Anklav, Bal Kishan Patel from Dabhoi. and Sukhrambhai Rathwa from Jetpur (ST) seat.

The oldest party released the first list of 43 candidates for this gujarat assembly election On 4 November.

The Gujarat Assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5 for 182 constituencies. The counting of votes will take place on December 8.

(with PTI inputs)