By PTI
AHMEDABAD: Thirty-five Muslim candidates are contesting the Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat but the Congress has this time broken its tradition and not fielded a single person from the community in the state. The Congress has argued that the Bharuch Lok Sabha seat, from where it used to traditionally field a Muslim candidate, has this time gone to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as part of the seat sharing agreement among the opposition INDIA bloc constituents.
Among national parties, only the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded a Muslim candidate from Gandhinagar for the May 7 polls in the state.
The BSP had also fielded a Muslim candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Panchmahal.
This time, 35 Muslim candidates are in the fray for the Lok Sabha polls to be held in 25 out of the 26 seats in Gujarat, compared to 43 nominees from the community in 2019, according to Election Commission data.
This story was originally published in timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Read the full story here.