The Congress tonight released its third list of 76 candidates for the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly election, filing of nominations for which ends tomorrow. The party, which has been seeking to dislodge the BJP from power in the western state, earlier announced the names of 86 candidates in two phases. The party, however, could not finalise the names of its candidates in 20 more seats. Congress general secretary Oscar Fernandes released the third list to the media tonight. The list featured at least 11 candidates from Scheduled Tribes and three from Scheduled Caste communities.
The Congress has been out of power in the crucial state for over two decades. The polling for the two-phase elections in Gujarat, having total 182 seats, will take place on December 9 and 14 and votes will be counted on December 18. Eighty-nine seats of Saurashtra and South Gujarat region are going to polls in the first phase, while the remaining 93 seats in central and northern region would go for polls in the second phase.
