CM Bhupendra Patel, Hardik Patel, Rivaba Jadeja, former Morbi MLA among Gujarat BJP candidates
The BJP on Thursday released its first list of 160 candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections, fielding Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel from his constituency Ghatlodia and dropping several sitting MLAs. State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi will be running from Majura constituency.
Among the other notable names on the list are Hardik Patel, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja’s wife Rivaba Jadeja, and former Morbi MLA Kantilal Amrutiya who was recently in news for trying to save Morbi bridge collapse victims. Patel, former working president of the Congress in the state, joined the BJP last year after a fallout with his former party. He will contest the Viramgam seat.
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Rivaba Jadeja joined the party in 2019 and is its candidate for the Jamnagar North seat, where sitting MLA Dharmendrasinh M Jadeja has been dropped. Rivaba, who has studied mechanical engineering, has been touring villages for months.
Former Morbi MLA chosen for bravery
Amrutiya is a former BJP MLA from Morbi who reportedly saved lives after the bridge collapse on October 30. The 60-year-old Amrutiya was seen in videos wearing a life tube and trying to rescue people who fell into the river. He was reportedly not on the first list of candidates. His name was included after his brave act, sources said. The current Morbi MLA, Brijesh Merja, has been dropped.
The two-phase elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held on December 1 and December 5. The party named its candidates for 84 of the 89 seats that will go to polls in the first phase and 76 of the 93 seats going to polls in the second phase. The list includes 14 women, 13 Schedules Caste candidates, and 24 Schedules Tribe candidates.
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The candidates were selected by the party’s Central Election Committee at a meeting on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, and the party’s national president JP Nadda were present in the meeting to finalise the candidates.
Many sitting MLAs dropped
On Thursday, Union minister Bhupender Yadav named the candidates at a press conference in Delhi, where fellow Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Gujarat BJP president C R Patil were also present.
Yadav said the list includes 69 sitting MLAs, indicating that many incumbent legislators have been dropped. Several senior leaders from the state, including former chief minister Vijay Rupani and former deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, have opted out of the contest.
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The BJP hopes to maintain its uninterrupted winning streak in Gujarat since 1995, especially in the face of aggressive campaigning by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The Congress has received another blow in Gujarat, with Jhalod MLA Bhavesh Katara resigning from his post on Wednesday. He is the third party MLA to resign in two days after Mohansinh Rathwa and Bhagwan Barad.
(With agency inputs)
