Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released the first list of candidates for the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017. The party has released the names of 70 candidates in the list. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani will contest elections from Rajkot West. While Deputy CM Nitin Patel will fight from Mehsana. The state BJP president Jitubhai Vaghani will contest from Bhavnagar West.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held a meeting on November 15 to decide candidates. The crucial Gujarat assembly elections, touted to be the semi finals before 2019 General Elections, will take place in two phases on December 9 and 14. The results of the same will be announced alongside Himachal Pradesh on December 18.
Here are some of the candidates who will contest the elections:
Union Minister JP Nadda had said that that the decision regarding the seats for Gujarat election has been finalised. “The list of the candidates will be declared at the right time,” said Nadda after the BJP CEC meeting. On November 14, BJP supremo Amit Shah declared that Vijay Rupani and Nitin Patel will lead the party’s campaign in Gujarat assembly elections.
First list of 70 BJP candidates for ensuing general election to the legislative assembly of Gujarat 2017 finalised by BJP Central Election Committee https://t.co/c5w0a46FmD
— BJP (@BJP4India) November 17, 2017
The last date of filing nominations for the first phase of the polls – when 89 seats will see voting – is November 21. On the other hand, Congress has not released the candidate list for the elections. The party will hold a meeting of its screening committee on Friday in New Delhi to decide the same. Some PTI sources said that the socio-political situation in Gujarat is fluid in the backdrop of agitations launched by the the Patels, OBCs and Dalits to achieve their respective goals. The other reason is to avoid a possible rebellion by ticket hopefuls if they do not make it to the final list, the sources added.
(To be updated)