- Party declares three more candidates; 181 so far
- Manjalpur in Vadodara is the only segment for which a candidate is yet to be announced by the ruling party.
- Calls Bhupendra Patel as the “future CM” of Gujarat and urges the voters to elect him by a huge margin
NE NEWSSERVICE
AHMEDABAD, NOV 16
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the BJP ended “appeasement politics” and established the rule of law in Gujarat during its 27-year rule and slammed Congress on various issues.
આજે મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રી @Bhupendrabjp જીના નામાંકન પ્રસંગે હાજરી આપી.@narendramodi જી અને ભાજપા પ્રત્યે ગુજરાતની જનતાનો અતૂટ વિશ્વાસ બતાવી રહ્યો છે કે આ વખતે મોદીજી અને ભૂપેન્દ્રજીના નેતૃત્વમાં ભાજપા અભૂતપૂર્વ જીત તરફ આગળ વધી રહી છે. pic.twitter.com/ACmjUzv0hM
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) November 16, 2022
Shah alleged the Congress used to mock Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its cadres over the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and asked Rahul Gandhi to visit the temple, which he said will be ready for inauguration in January 2024.
આજે ગુજરાત વિધાનસભા ચૂંટણી સંદર્ભે ગુજરાતના મુખ્યમંત્રી શ્રી @Bhupendrapbjp ના મતક્ષેત્ર ઘાટલોડીયા વિધાનસભાના મધ્યસ્થ ચૂંટણી કાર્યાલયનું ઉદ્ધાટન કર્યું. pic.twitter.com/pmwDMG8HEo
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) November 16, 2022
Shah was speaking at an election rally in support of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the BJP’s candidate from the Ghatlodia seat in Ahmedabad city.
જન-જન નું ભાજપા પ્રત્યેનનું આ સમર્થન જ જંગી બહુમતીથી ભાજપનો વિજય સુનિશ્ચિત કરી રહ્યો છે.
મુખ્યમંત્રી @Bhupendrabjp જીના નામાંકન પહેલા જાહેર સભા અને રોડ શોની કેટલીક તસવીરો. pic.twitter.com/oOqrewmnIo
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) November 16, 2022
After the rally, Shah and Patel led a roadshow up to the Sola area where Patel submitted his nomination papers for the next month’s elections to authorities. Gujarat is scheduled to vote in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.
The BJP is eyeing a seventh straight term in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah, where a triangular contest among BJP, Congress and AAP is shaping up.
જનતાના અપાર સ્નેહ અને સમર્થનની અન્ય તસવીરો… pic.twitter.com/0ofNGrlOPz
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) November 16, 2022
“People of Gujarat had seen the days when communal riots were common, especially between 1985 and 1995 (under non-BJP governments). Curfew remained imposed for 250 days out of 365 days (a year). Women used to pray for their family members whenever they used to visit the walled city areas,” Shah said.
In the 2017 elections, Patel was elected from Ghatlodia with a huge margin of 1.17 lakh votes.
“I want to congratulate CM Bhupendra Patel for demolishing illegal mazars (a Muslim shrine or enshrined tomb) and other illegal constructions which mushroomed in Beyt Dwarka (a small island off the coast of Dwarka) over years. There were more mazaras than the population,” said Shah.
He termed Patel as the “future CM” of Gujarat and urged the voters to elect him by a huge margin.
Party declares three more candidates, taking total to 181
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday declared candidates for three more seats for the second phase of the two-phase Gujarat Assembly polls scheduled next month.
With the latest names, the BJP has declared candidates for 181 of the total 182 constituencies that will vote in two phases on December 1 (89 seats) and December 5 (93 seats).
Manjalpur in Vadodara is the only segment for which a candidate is yet to be announced by the ruling party.
The three seats for which the names of nominees were declared on Wednesday are Kheralu, Mansa, and Garbada.
For Kheralu in Mehsana district, BJP has dropped its sitting MLA Ajmalji Thakor and instead given a ticket to Sardarsinh Chaudhary.
The candidates for the Mansa seat in Gandhinagar district and Garbada (Scheduled Tribe) segment in Dahod district are Jayanti aka JS Patel and Mahendra Bhabhor, respectively.
Except for Kheralu, two other seats are currently held by Congress.
Kheralu has been a BJP bastion since 2002. After four-time MLA Bharatsinh Dabhi was elected as Lok Sabha MP of Patan in 2019, BJP’s Ajmalji Thakor became the MLA from Kheralu after winning the bypoll. Now, he has been replaced by Sardarsinh Chaudhary.
The opposition Congress won the Mansa constituency in 2012 and 2017.
In the previous polls, Congress’ Suresh Patel had defeated BJP’s Amit Chaudhary, who won on a Congress ticket in 2012 but switched sides ahead of the 2017 polls.
Instead of Chaudhary, who was hopeful of getting a second chance, the BJP has fielded JS Patel.
This time, the Congress has dropped sitting Mansa MLA Suresh Patel and nominated Babusinh Thakor.
Mansa town is the native of union home minister Amit Shah.
Garbada constituency will see a direct contest between BJP’s Bhabhor and sitting Congress MLA Chandrikaben Bariya, who has been representing the seat since 2012.
