BJP’s 2nd List Features Candidates Fighting for Congress Seats

BJP Second list, Patidar politics, Gujarat Elections

Gujarat Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on 9 December and 14 December.

(Photo: The Quint)

The BJP declared its second list of candidates on Saturday night, and it has left many party workers disappointed to say the least. The new list of 36 has 19 new faces, including four women, and covers most constituencies of Central Gujarat. Prominent names that feature in the list include State Home Minister Pradipsinh Jadeja from Vatva in Ahmedabad, State Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Minister Babu Bokhiria from Porbandar, and Nima Acharya from Bhuj.

Son of former BJP leader late Ashok Bhatt, Bhushan Bhatt has been repeated from Khadia Jamalpur constituency in Ahmedabad.

The list has at least 18 names who have been given tickets to contest against sitting Congress MLAs. Interestingly the BJP has not issued tickets to sitting party MLAs in at least seven seats in the second list of candidates. This includes sitting MLA from Naroda constituency Nirmala Wadhwani, whose ticket has been now handed to Balram Khubchand Thavani.

BJP state vice president and spokesperson, IK Jadeja’s name was dropped from the first list. The three-time MLA from Dhrangadhra constituency had sought a ticket from Wadhwan constituency, which was issued to Dhanji Patel, who is the founder and chairman of Makson Group of Companies and is politically inexperienced. Dhanji Patel hails from the Leuva sub-caste of Patidars, the same sub-caste that Hardik belongs to.

Supporters of Jadeja held protests outside Kamalam, BJP’s state headquarters in Gandhinagar on Saturday. Jadeja however, has insisted that he is still a staunch supporter of the BJP. Sources in the know have claimed that BJP will issue a ticket to Jadeja from Mandvi constituency in Kutch to placate him.

BJP has issued 106 names in total and the names of 76 candidates are still ‘awaited’ while the Congress party has stated that it will release its list by Sunday evening.

With the Hardik sex scandal looming over the Congress, and PAAS members who are still in talks with the grand old party, it will be interesting to see how the Congress plays its cards and addresses the caste dynamics in Modi’s Gujarat.