Zee Media Bureau
Vadodra: Congress nominee Narendra Rawat, who was the consensus candidate elected through primary for Vadodara Lok Sabha seat to take on Bharatiya Janata Paty`s prime ministerial candiadte Narendra Modi, on Tuesday withdrew his candidature.
After Rawat`s withdrawal Congress announced party general secretary Madhusudan Mistri as its Lok Sabha candidate from Vadodra.
“Narendra Rawat has retired from the contest following BJP’s announcement to field Narendra Modi from Vadodara. He has requested me to convey to the party command regarding the decision,” said Gurudas Kamat, AICC general secretary in-charge for Gujarat.
The announcement came ahead of Congress’s press briefing to release the seventh list of candidates.
Rawat, a local leader from Gujarat was named the candidate from the seat after he had won majority of votes of office bearers under the primaries experiment initiated by Rahul Gandhi as part of plans to bring fresh blood and grassroot workers to the fore.
"Before withdrawing my candidature, I discussed it with the party leadership, including state Congress in-charge Gurudas Kamat, Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and other senior leaders," Rawat told PTI.
"Though I was elected through primary which was the pet project of Rahul, I am withdrawing from the fray as equations are changed after Modi chose Vadodara as the second Lok sabha seat to contest from," the city unit president said.
Ravat was considered a political greenhorn and some sections within Congress had demanded his replacement. However, Congress remained firm on its choice until tonight when the party leadership announced Madhusudan Mistry, a close aide of Rahul, as challenger to Modi from the constituency.
Ever since Narendra Modi’s candidature was announced from Vadodara, there was speculation that Congress will change its candidate from the seat as the party declared that the electoral battle against the BJP’s PM candidate will be fought strongly especially in constituencies which he is contesting.
The name of senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh is doing rounds for Varanasi seat against Modi and the party has made it clear that it will not vacate the political space by not contesting in favour of any candidate including Arvind Kejriwal.
