Gujarat Congress chief says he won’t contest state elections

Rajkot (Gujarat), June 1 (IANS) Congress's Gujarat chief Bharatsinh Solanki on Thursday said that he would not contest the forthcoming assembly elections, even as speculations continued about the possibility of Leader of Opposition Shankersinh Vaghela quitting the party.

Solanki, on a three-day visit to hub of Saurashtra region, denied that the party was unable to make up its mind on the candidates and told reporters that the first list of around 45 to 50 contestants for the elections by the end of this month.

Asked about the constituency he planned to fight from, Solanki said: "I am not going to contest the elections." He parried further questions on this.

State Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said: "Solanki was an MP before 2014 and has been a Union minister. So it is not surprising for him not to contest Assembly polls."

The announcement assumes significance in wake of strong rumours that Vaghela set to jump ship shortly. The buzz in the state after his return following a meeting with the Congress top brass in Delhi on Wednesday is that he is in final stages.

Vaghela himself told IANS on Wednesday evening that nobody could predict tomorrow when asked if he was planning to quit. "My existence is not tied to anyone or any party," he said.

When Solanki was asked about this, he sought to downplay it. "He (Vaghela) may have said that today I am alive but may not be tomorrow. How to decipher Bapu's statement depends on how media interprets it."

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)