QAhmedabad: Bypolls on Three Gujarat Assembly Seats on 23 April

Bypolls were necessitated after Congress MLAs, who had won from the three seats, quit the party to join the BJP.

1. Bypolls on Three Gujarat Assembly Seats on 23 April

The by-elections for Dhrangadhra, Manavadar and Jamnagar (Rural) Assembly constituencies in Gujarat will be held on 23 April, the Election Commission of India said in an official statement issued on Thursday, 14 March.

The bypolls were necessitated after the Congress MLAs, who had won from the three seats, quit the party to join the BJP in the last few days. The by-elections will be held on 23 April along with the Lok Sabha elections for 26 seats in the state.

The total number of Assembly seats where bypolls will be held along with the Lok Sabha elections have gone up to five. Earlier, the EC had announced bypolls for the Talala and Unjha Assembly seats.

(Source: Indian Express)

2. Paresh Rawal Unlikely to Contest, BJP Leaders Queue up to Stake Claim for His LS Seat

Several BJP leaders have reportedly put forth their candidature for Ahmedabad (East) Lok Sabha seat from where actor-turned politician Paresh Rawal had won in 2014.

A three-member team of BJP observers, comprising Shanker Chaudhary, Jivraj Chauhan and Asmitaben Shiroya, on Thursday, 14 March visited party’s Ahmedabad city office in Khanpur area and accepted suggestions and opinions about party’s candidate for the constituency from cadres.

After holding consultation for the entire day and taking “sense” of party workers, the team will submit its report to the state-level parliamentary board of the party which will subsequently send its report to the central parliamentary board for final selection of the party candidate.

(Source: Indian Express)

3. Gujarat: Traders to Make Bonfire of Chinese Goods on Holi

Businessmen from Gujarat have once again upped the ante for the boycott of Chinese products as China continued its support to Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar.

Just ahead of Holi, traders have planned bonfire of Chinese goods across Gujarat. However, a section of the business community believes that reducing dependency on Chinese imports is a good long term strategy, but should be implemented only after creating manufacturing capacities locally.

Agitated traders and other businessmen have planned a bonfire of Chinese products on 19 March. "We have sought police permission for conducting bonfire of Chinese goods, a day ahead of Holi in a number of cities of Gujarat," said Mahendra Shah, national chairman of CAIT.

(Source: DNA Ahmedabad)

4. Petition Against Chudasama’s Win: Dholka RO Says 429 Postal Votes Rightly Rejected

Dhaval Jani, the returning officer (RO) of Dholka Assembly constituency in the 2017 polls, told the Gujarat High Court on Thursday, 14 March that 429 postal ballots were rejected during the counting since they “were not in consonance with rules and guidelines of the Election Commission”.

Jani, who was cross-examined during the hearing of a petition challenging the election of minister Bhupendersinh Chudasma from Dholka, said, “As far as 423 covers containing postal ballots, they were found to be prima facie not worth being opened, since as per rules, they can’t be said to be validly tendered vote and therefore the covers containing the paper, which on being opened are termed to be ballot paper 13-B, were not opened and the vote contained therein, not counted.”

(Source: Indian Express)

5. Two Contract Workers Dead, Four Injured in ONGC Well Fire

Two contract workers died and four others suffered severe burn injuries after a fire broke out in an ONGC well (number 6) at Nandej, near here, late on Wednesday evening, 13 March.

While Sanjay Mahendra Singh (25) was brought dead to a hospital, Shahjad Alam Ansari (27) succumbed to injuries early on Thursday morning, 14 March. The four contractual workers who suffered severe burn injuries are being treated in a hospital here, according to an ONGC press release.

The fire broke out during repair and maintenance operations being carried out by a chartered hire work-over rig. Senior officers from ONGC-Ahmedabad Asset rushed to the spot. The State administration, including police and fire services, also provided support to contain the situation.

(Source: Business Line)

6. Patidar Leader Reshma Patel Revolts: Will Fight Against BJP

Former Hardik Patel aide and firebrand Patidar leader Reshma Patel, who had joined the BJP in the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly elections two years ago, on Thursday announced to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Porbandar constituency and Manavadar Assembly bypoll, simultaneously.

Reshma, however, said that it was not clear if she would contest on a party ticket or as an Independent candidate.

Disillusioned by the BJP, Reshma has been embarrassing the party for quite some time. On Thursday, she posted a message on social media saying that she will fight against “tanashahi (dictatorial)” mentality of the BJP.

(Source: Indian Express)

7. Ahmedabad: North Zone Worst Hit by Swine Flu, Health Department Data Shows

The city is heading towards another bad year of swine flu, recording more than 1,178 cases and 23 deaths since the beginning of the year. With the rising number of cases, the north zone has become the hotspot of the disease. While among all the wards, Nikol has reported the highest number of the cases.

North zone has recorded the highest number of the case which is 263. While the south-west zone has been recorded the lowest number of positive swine flu cases which is 86. The data analysis of the swine flu cases was done by the health department of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), it was revealed that the north zone has the highest number of the cases this year.

"This is an airborne viral illness. So we can't predict the reason why more cases have appeared in one pocket. But the fact is each zone has positive cases. People who have low immunity are prone to this virus," said Dr Bhavin Solanki, in-charge medical officer of health, AMC.

(Source: DNA Ahmedabad)