Gujarat Assembly Election 2017: Congress likely to release first list of candidates next week

New Delhi: The Congress is likely to release its first list of candidates for the Gujarat Assembly polls next week, the party sources said on Friday. The Congress’ Central Election Committee (CEC), chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi, met in New Delhi earlier in the day. The sources, however, were at variance on the number of candidates the first list will have. [caption id=“attachment_4203919” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] According to a source, the party will come out with the list of 70 candidates for the phase one of the election. Another source maintained that the list will have the names of 80 contenders. The Congress is locked in a bitter battle with the ruling BJP in Gujarat, which has been under the saffron party’s rule for over two decades. Gujarat goes to poll in two phases on 9 December and 14 December. The election result will be declared on 18 December. It will be held in 182 Assembly constituencies.