By IANS
Ahmedabad : The stage was set for the big fight in Gujarat as Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his Congress opponent, central minister Dinsha Patel, filed their nomination papers from the Maninagar constituency of Ahmedabad Wednesday within seconds of each other.
While Modi signed the papers just before 12.39 p.m. — the auspicious time fixed by astrologers — Patel chose to affix his signature right at the designated time.
Modi is seeking to retain the Maninagar seat from which the Congress party has fielded the 70-year-old minister of state for petroleum and natural gas.
Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination, Modi observed he was confident that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would emerge victorious.
“I have come to file my nomination and I am a candidate for the coming elections. I will be faithful to India’s constitution. I support the sovereignty and integrity of the country,” he told reporters, as if taking an oath.
For the Congress party, Leader of Opposition Arjun Modhvadia said: “Dinsha is our choice against Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Not only he has been in public life for a long time, he also has a very clean image. Modi is no match for him.”
Modi entered the assembly by winning the Rajkot seat in December 2001. For the December 2002 assembly elections, he shifted to Maninagar, a middle class residential area in east Ahmedabad.
He won the 2002 polls by a margin of little more than 73,000 votes, securing 62.5 percent of the votes polled.
Patel has been representing the Caira constituency in the Lok Sabha since 1996. Earlier he was elected to the state assembly five times and served as minister of public works.
While the Congress considered several names including some Gandhians for the prestigious seat, it finally zeroed in on the seasoned campaigner.
The central minister will be a tough rival for Modi as the constituency has a good proportion of people from the Patel community.
With Patel’s candidature, the Congress also expects to force Modi to spend more time in his constituency and less in campaigning elsewhere in the state.
The state is going to polls in two phases, Dec 11 and Dec 16. The votes will be counted on Dec 23. Maninagar will go to the polls in the second phase.