The initial list of 160 candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections to be held next month was released by the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday. In the presence of state BJP chief C R Patil, Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya, and party national general secretary Tarun Chug, BJP Gujarat in-charge Bhupender Yadav presented the list in New Delhi.
The names were decided upon in a high-level meeting presided over by JP Nadda, the party’s president. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh were among the prominent politicians present at the meeting.
Bhupendra Patel, the chief minister of Gujarat, has once again been nominated to run for the Ghatlodia seat in Ahmedabad, but there are a number of other notable and quite well contenders on the list. Among the 38 incumbent BJP MLAs who have been refused a ticket for the next elections are five ministers from Gujarat.
Thirteen of the 160 announced candidates are from Scheduled Castes, 24 are from Scheduled Tribes, and 14 are women. According to Bhupendar Yadav, 69 current MLAs have been re-nominated on these 160 seats, while party candidates have been replaced on 38 others.
Brijesh Merja, BJP MLA from Morbi, where a suspension bridge collapsed last month, was dropped, as was Gujarat Assembly Speaker Nimaben Acharya, state Parliamentary and Legislative Affairs Minister Rajendra Trivedi, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Pradip Parmar, Transport Minister Arvind Raiyani, and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister RC Makwana. Former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and ex-Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel are also notable omissions.
There are several candidates who are notable and their nomination has garnered widespread attention. Here are some of the candidates whose nomination has been well-received by the public in view of the recent conditions in the state.
Kantilal Amrutiya from Morbi
The party handed a ticket to Kantilal Amrutiya, who leapt into the Machchhu River in Morbi to save people after the suspension bridge fell. Amrutiya, a former Morbi MLA, dived into the river while wearing a life tube, not thinking about his own life. He reportedly saved several lives during the recent bridge collapse tragedy.
On Sunday, October 30, 2022, over 130 people were killed when the cable bridge spanning the Machchhu River collapsed and everyone on the bridge plunged into the water. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to the Morbi bridge collapse site on November 1 to assess the situation. PM Modi was also joined by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
Rivaba Jadeja from Jamnagar North
Rivaba Jadeja, the wife of Indian cricketer Ravindrasinh Jadeja, has been handed the party’s nomination from Jamnagar North. Rivaba, the former leader of the Karni Sena’s women’s division, formally joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
She has been involved with the party for some years and has done ground-level social work. Rivaba and Ravinsrasinh are well-known for their charitable efforts. On the occasion of their daughter’s fifth birthday, they made headlines by opening Sukanya Samriddhi bank accounts for 101 infant girls.
PM Modi appreciated their efforts to increase awareness and assist female children in becoming financially independent. He had written a letter to Rivaba, praising her and her husband for their charity work.
Hardik Patel from Viramgam
Hardik Patel, the head of the Patidar agitation who switched from the Congress to the BJP earlier this year, will contest in the Viramgam constituency. Patel left the Congress at the beginning of June, citing the party’s “lack of seriousness” in regard to issues of national significance. Hardik Patel declared after joining the BJP that he will begin a new chapter in his life as a foot soldier under PM Modi’s leadership.
“I have never put forth any demands before anyone for any post. I am joining the BJP to work. I believe the Congress party does not want to do any sort of work. I urge the leaders of the other parties to come and join the BJP. PM Modi is the pride of the entire world,” Patel had said.
In his resignation letter to interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi, he expressed that the Congress party has restricted itself to opposition politics. He claimed that the country desired a solution in the form of such decisions, whether it be the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the CAA-NRC, the removal of Article 370 from Kashmir, or the implementation of GST, but the Congress party has always objected to such matters.
Other significant faces
BJP Ahmedabad City President Amit Shah (Ellisbridge constituency), Amit Thaker (Vejalpur), ex-minister Chiman Shapariya (Jamjodhpur), Pabubha Manek (Dwarka), ex-minister and ex-Congress defector Jawahar Chavda (Manavadar), and party spokesman Mahesh Kaswala (Savarkundla) are a few of the party’s notable candidates.
Dalit religious leader Shambhuprasad Tundiya (Gadhada), former minister Shankar Chaudhary (Tharad), Jitendra Patel alias Bhagar (Naranpura), Bhushan Bhatt (Jamalpur-Khadia), former Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation standing committee chairman Amul Bhatt (Maninagar), former minister Ramanlal Vora (Idar), and former MLA C K Raulji Ramanlal Vora, the party’s veteran Dalit leader, will run from Idar, while current MLA and Gujarati cinema star Hitu Kanodiya has been withdrawn.
The BJP has fielded Dr Darshita Shah for the important Rajkot West seat currently held by former CM Rupani. In another BJP stronghold, Mehsana, which was formerly controlled by Nitin Patel, the party has fielded Mukesh Dwarkadas Patel. Ramesh Tilara has been handed the ticket for Rajkot South.
The party has also expelled controversial MLA Kesrisinh Solanki from Matar, whose name is among those listed by the accused in the October communal conflict in the taluka’s Undhela village. Yogendra Parmar, the son of former MLA Ramsinh Parmar, has been given a chance in Thasra. Parmar, the Chairman of Amul Dairy, switched from Congress to the BJP in 2017.
Gujarat assembly elections 2022
Gujarat assembly elections will be held in two stages on December 1 and December 5, with the results being announced on December 8. According to the electoral roll, the state of Gujarat has approximately 4.9 crore registered voters, of whom 4.04 lakh are people with disabilities. However, there are around 9.8 lakh senior citizen voters and 4.61 lakh first-time voters.
According to the sources, the struggle for Gujarat has heated up, with the BJP and the AAP sprouting up as the top two competitors. The BJP won 99 of the 182 seats in 2017, while the Congress won 77. The ruling party is seeking its sixth consecutive term in office since 1995.
