AHMEDABAD: The Congress on Sunday announced Koli leader Avchar Nakiya as its candidate for the December 20 Jasdan by-election in Gujarat.
Nakiya will face off with BJP's Kunvarji Bavaliya, who had won from the seat on Congress ticket in 2017 Assembly elections but resigned to join the BJP, necessitating the by-election.
Both Nakiya, a member of Rajkot district panchayat, and Bavaliya belong to the influential Koli community.
"Congress president Rahul Gandhi has given assent to the name of former vice president and current member of Rajkot district panchayat Avchar Nakiya as party's candidate," Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda said.
Nakiya will file his nomination paper Monday, he said, adding that before that the Congress will organise a `Jan Ashirvad' meet at Jasdan.
Talking to the media, Nakiya said he has the support of Patidar and other Koli leaders in the Congress who were also contenders for the ticket.
"Kunvarjibhai won in 2017 because he was a Congress candidate.
He will face the consequences for betraying people's trust," he said. The election will be held on December 20 and votes will be counted on December 23.