Gujarat Assembly polls: AAP releases 17th list of four candidates

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday released its 17th list of four candidates for the next month’s Assembly polls in Gujarat.

The AAP has fielded Dinesh Thakor from Kheralu, Jayantilal M Patel from Visnagar, Bhaskar Patel from Mansa and Sandeep Singh Raj from Padra.

Earlier, AAP had announced Isudan Gadhvi, the party’s national joint general secretary and a member of the party’s highest decision-making body, the national executive.

Gadhvi will contest the Assembly polls from the Khambhalia seat, in his home district of Devbhumi Dwarka.

Gadhvi is a member of the AAP’s National Executive, the party’s highest decision-making body.

The party unveiled its CM face after a crowdsourcing campaign during which people were asked to send their suggestions on a phone number and an email id till 5 pm on November 3.

AAP national convenor Kejriwal launched the campaign on October 29 asking people to choose who they wanted to be the party’s chief ministerial face.

Even before the Assembly elections in Punjab, the AAP had conducted a similar crowd survey in which Bhagwant Mann emerged as the popular choice. Mann went on to become the chief minister riding a landslide victory for AAP.

AAP has also released a list of star campaigners for the upcoming Assembly polls in Gujarat where the party is looking to take on the ruling BJP.

Big names of the party including Delhi Chief Minister and party’s supremo Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy in the Delhi government Manish Sisodia, and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann are among the star campaigners of the party.

AAP MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha also feature in the list of 20-star campaigners for Gujarat where the party is eying to make inroads.

Former cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Harbhajan Singh will also campaign for the party in Gujarat as a star campaigner.

Besides, AAP’s Chief Ministerial candidate in the state Isudan Gadhvi and party’s state president Gopal Italia in Gujarat are also in the list.

Others who feature in the list include Alpesh Kathiria, Yuvraj Jadeja, Manoj Sorathia, Jagmal Vala, Raju Solanki, Praveen Ram, Gauri Desai, Mathur Baldaniya, Ajit Lokhil, Rakesh Hirapara, Baljinder Kaur, Anmol Gagan Mann.

Notably, in the list, two women ministers of the Punjab government, Baljinder Kaur and Anmol Gagan Mann have also been named.

The 182-member Assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will occur on December 8, which coincides with Himachal Pradesh’s result date.

The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has been in power in the state for the last 27 years and the party is seeking its seventh term in office this year.

While Congress is seeking to oust the BJP, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is also making efforts to put up a strong performance in the polls.