1. Congress Fields Paresh Dhanani From Amreli, Finalises Candidates for 5 Other Seats
Ending the suspense, the Congress finalised Paresh Dhanani as its candidate for Amreli Lok Sabha on Tuesday, 2 April. The party also finalised candidates for five other seats. A formal list likely to be announced on Wednesday morning.
Sources said the Congress's Central Election Committee cleared Dhanani's name as Amreli candidate. This would be his first LS election. DNA had reported on 30 March that Dhanani was the frontrunner for the ticket.
PD Vasava, MLA from Nandod seat, was finalised as the candidate from Bharuch. There was immense pressure on senior leader Ahmed Patel to fight from Bharuch.
(Source:DNA Ahmedabad)
2. BJP Fields Shardaben Patel From Mehsana, Repeats Surat MP
Laying to rest speculations about its candidate for Mehsana Lok Sabha seat, the BJP announced that Shardaben Patel, wife of former minister Late Anil Patel, would be its nominee from the crucial seat. The party also repeated its Surat MP Darshana Jardosh.
Shardaben replaces MP Jayshreeben Patel, who had won in 2009 and 2014, as the BJP candidate in the Patidar dominated seat. Her husband Anil Patel, who was industries minister, and also founder president of Ganpat University, had succumbed to cancer in August.
The announcement of Shardaben Patel as the BJP candidate also comes as a huge relief for deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, who was said to be under tremendous pressure to contest from Mehsana.
(Source: DNA Ahmedabad)
3. Six-Time MP Mohan Delkar Files Nomination as Independent Candidate
Mohan Delkar, who resigned as president of the territorial Congress unit of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and from the party last week, filed his nomination as an independent candidate from the union territory on Tuesday, 2 April.
The six-time Member of Parliament from DNH held a road show from his residence, covering a kilometre up to the Collectorate in Silvassa. The rally saw thousands of tribal people and performers playing folk music, and the crowd cheering for their leader.
The Congress party has not yet declared its candidate for DNH, whereas the BJP has given the ticket to sitting MP Natu Patel, who is also a tribal.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. BJP MP Vinod Chavda’s Assets Grow Nearly 600% in Five Years, Liabilities Grow Too
BJP MP Vinod Chavda’s assets grew from Rs 56.18 lakh to Rs 3.35 crore, a jump of almost 600 percent in five years since he won his maiden Parliamentary election from Kutch Lok Sabha seat in 2014, according to the affidavits filed by him. His liabilities also increased — from Rs 4.11 lakh to Rs 1.24 crore or about 3000 percent.
In 2014, Chavda, then a member of Kutch district panchayat, had declared total assets worth Rs 56.18 lakh in the affidavit attached with his nomination papers as a BJP candidate for Kutch Parliamentary seat.
This figure is now Rs 3.35 crore, according to the affidavit he appended to his nomination papers that he filed on Tuesday as a BJP nominee for the same seat. This amounts an increase of 596 percent.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Lok Sabha Poll Between India, Pakistan: Vijay Rupani
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday, 2 April remarked that the ongoing Lok Sabha election is between India and Pakistan and came down heavily on the Congress for “speaking the language of Pakistan”.
Addressing an election meeting of the BJP at Bahumali Bhavan Chowk in Rajkot, Rupani said that it was shameful that senior Congress leader Sam Pitroda was seeking proof of air raids conducted by the Indian Air Force in Balakot of Pakistan in response to the terrorist attack in Pulwama.
“Rahul Gandhi’s guru Sam Pitroda…demanded proof of destruction of the camps in Balakot. But this is exactly the line adopted by Pakistan…Why are Congress leaders talking in such a language?” he asked, alleging that such statements by Congress leaders had turned the 2019 Lok Sabha poll into an election between India and Pakistan.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Surat: Missing PA of Senior Congress Leader Found at Railway Station
After he went missing from Mumbai on 30 March, the personal assistant of senior Maharashtra Congress leader Manikrao Gavit was found in Ucchal taluka of Tapi district in Gujarat on Tuesday. Bhagwan Girase (40) was found at Navapur railway station in an unconscious state.
According to police, Gavit, a former Union minister of state and resident of Nandurbar district in Maharashtra, left his flat in Worli to go to the Congress office in Dadar area of Mumbai on 30 March. He was accompanied by his son Bharat Gavit and their personal assistant Girase.
After a meeting there, they headed towards Kakel Sahib Garge Marg in Dadar for some work. After reaching Kakel Sahib Garge Marg, the others realised Girase was missing. After searching for him, Gavit and his son lodged a missing complaint.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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