Gujarat Cong to give tickets to sitting MLAs

Ahmedabad, Nov 5 (UNI) The Gujarat Congress has agreed in principle to nominate all its 45 sitting MLAs for the forthcoming two-phase assembly polls, scheduled on December 11 and 16.

Highly-placed party sources said senior Congress leaders will commence meetings in Delhi from today to finalise the candidates for the polls to the 182-member assembly. The Congress has also agreed to have seat adjustments with the NCP and the Left.

Leader of the Opposition in the state Arjun Modhwadia and state unit chief Bharat Solanki have reached Delhi to attend the scrutiny meeting which will be attended by senior leaders Ashok Gehlot, A K Antony and B K Hariprasad.

The state unit of Gujarat had finalised panels for the Assembly seats after a three-day exercise in Gandhinagar which ended last night.

Each panel has the names of five aspiring candidates. The scrutiny committee meeting, which is being held in Delhi, will continue for three days in which the leaders will also meet NCP and state BJP dissident leaders.

NCP leader Praful Patel and Chhabildas Mehta are in Delhi for talks on seat-sharing with the Congress. Dissident BJP leaders including Somabhai Patel will also hold discussions with the Congress UNI