Soon after the release of the first list, BJP has released its second list of candidates. Read to find out more about the list.
The BJP on Saturday released its second list of 36 candidates for the Gujarat assembly polls next month. With this, the party has announced 106 candidates for elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly to be held in two phases on December 9 and 14.
There are as many as 19 new faces in it while the rest, including those defeated in the 2012 elections, have been repeated. Nirmala Wadhwani, the only woman minister in the state, has been dropped from this list. She was an MLA from Naroda. Balram Khubchand Thavani has been nominated for the seat.
While 18 of the candidates will contest in the first phase of the polls, the rest will contest in the second phase. There are 13 Scheduled Tribe candidates and two Scheduled Caste candidates.
Among those who found their names in the list were heavyweights like Gujarat home minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja, who contests from Vatva. The BJP will also repeat Babu Bokhiria, who holds Fisheries and Animal Husbandry portfolio, from Porbandar seat. Mayur Bhatt, son of former BJP member Ashok Bhatt has been repeated from Khadia Jamalpur constituency in Ahmedabad.
Earlier in the day, several supporters of senior BJP leader IK Jadeja gathered in BJP headquarters in the outskirts of Gandhinagar. Jadeja a strong Kshatriya leader from Wadwan, Dhrangadhra constituencies was dropped in the first list announced on Friday. BJP fielded Dhanji Patel a first timer from Wadhwan. Jadeja’s supporters also raised slogans against the party expressing their anger over the denial.
While Dhanji Patel comes from the same Leuva sub-caste Patidar leader Hardik hails from, Jadeja maintained that the people of Dhrangadhra and workers of Wadhwan wanted him to be fielded and perhaps lost patience when an outsider has been fielded by the party in Wadhwan. Jadeja, however, reiterated that he is still very much in BJP and will continue being so.
On Friday, the party had announced 70 candidates, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, and state party chief Jitu Vaghani. Of the 70, 15 are Patels, 18 OBCs, three SCs and 11 STs. Rupani will contest from Rajkot (West), and his deputy, Nitin Patel, from Mehsana.
In the first list, the state’s ruling party gave tickets to 49 sitting MLAs, including 16 ministers. Patidar and OBC leaders figured heavily in the list.
Meanwhile, the Congress list is likely to be announced on Sunday. Top Congress leaders had discussed possible candidates for all the 182 Assembly seats at a meeting of its Central Election Committee chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi but refrained from announcing any names.
The NCP also announced its pre-poll alliance with the Congress on Saturday. Exuding confidence, the party’s general secretary Tariq Anwar said the result of the polls will show people’s feelings and perception about BJP performance.
Here is a complete list:
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