Congress takes tough stand against rebels

Ahmedabad, Dec 5 (UNI) Taking a tough stand against party rebels ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, the Congress today gave a three-day ultimatum to them, asking the rebel candidates to withdraw from the fray or face suspension from the party.

AICC secretary Manish Tiwari told reporters that the party had taken a serious note of the rebels.

He said there are about half a dozen rebel candidates, who are contesting against official candidates of the Congress in the Assembly elections.

Citing the case of Dariapur-Kazipur, he said Surendra Rajput who filed his nomination as a Congress candidate was not willing to withdraw his candidature, after the seat was alloted to Congress ally LJP.

After the allotment of seat to the LJP, the party had asked Mr Rajput to withdraw his candidature. But, he declined, saying he would do so if Congress party President Sonia Gandhi asked him to.

Other prominent candidates who have filed nominations as rebel are Dr Bhamat in Santarmapur, Jorubha Chauhan in Mandal, Madhubhai Bhuva in Rajula and Lavingji in Radhanpur.

UNI