Congress to focus on winning elections, not chief ministerial candidate

An “extended party executive” meeting of the Gujarat Congress here on Wednesday decided to leave aside the contentious issue of who will be the chief ministerial face and focus on putting up a united fight to win the State Assembly this year as the top priority. Setting out the agenda clearly before the state leaders and sending a message to the rank and file, AICC general secretary and the party’s Gujarat affairs in-charge Ashok Gehlot asserted at the meeting, “We are not going to dwell into who will be the chief ministerial face of the party.” “Our priority is very clear, and it is to first win the elections and the chief minister will be decided after that,” he stated. Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Shankersinh Vaghela, who had been reportedly positioning himself as the contender for the chief minister, rubbished all allegations that he had walked out of a meeting convened by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi last week. He said, “The allegations are totally baseless. I am not in the race for chief minister and the 2017 elections will be fought under the leadership of Bharatsinh Solanki.” Steering clear of the contentious issue, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Bharatsinh Solanki instead targeted the BJP in the State. He said, “BJP leaders are seeking safer seats for the coming elections and this shows they are going to be defeated. We will be preparing the election manifesto at micro level. All the candidates will be decided at the local level. There will be different manifestos for urban as well as rural areas”.

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