Gujarat assembly polls: The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) on Thursday released its list of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in the state.
The list was released after a meeting of the BJP central election committee (CEC), chaired by PM Modi and party president JP Nadda, on Wednesday.
The senior leader brainstormed to finalise the party’s candidates for the assembly polls in Gujarat, where the party is eyeing a victory for a seventh consecutive time.
The prominent names in the list include chief minister Bhupendra Patel, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's wife Rivaba Jadeja, Hardik Patel and former Morbi MLA Kantilal Amrutya.
Former Morbi MLA gets a ticket
Former MLA of Morbi Kantilal Amrutiya has also been given a ticket in place of incumbent legislator Brijesh Merja. According to reports, Amrutiya has been awarded for his act as he saved several lives during the deadly bridge collapse in Morbi. A video had emerged showing Amrutiya rescuing people who had fallen into the river.
CM Patel will contest the elections from the Ghatlodiya constituency. Meanwhile, finance minister Kanubhai Desai will be defending his Pardi seat.
Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's wife Rivaba Jadeja will contest from the Jamnagar Uttam constituency, whereas former Congress leader Hardik Patel has been given a ticket from the Viramgam constituency.
BJP drops several senior leaders
Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and ex-deputy CM Nitin Patel, both senior leaders of the ruling BJP, announced they will not fight the next month's assembly elections.
In addition, two other senior BJP leaders, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Pradeepsinh Jadeja were also denied tickets.
It should be noted here that polling will be held in two phases in Gujarat on December 1 and 5 and results will be declared on December 8.
