Congress candidate Avasar Nakiya filed his nomination on Monday for Gujarat's Jasdan Assembly seat bypoll to be held on December 20.

The by-election was necessitated after sitting MLA Kunvarji Bavaliya switched sides from the Congress to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and resigned as member of the state Assembly on July 2.

Nakiya's name for the by-election was announced by Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday.

Before submitting his nomination form to the election officer on Monday, Nakiya led a rally of his supporters in Jasdan along with state Congress president Amit Chavda and Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani.

"We have the support of people from both rural and urban areas, and the Congress will continue to retain its stronghold in the constituency and fight for people," Nakiya said after filing his nomination.

Chavda said the way people turned up to support Avasar showed that they were with the Congress.

"The party has taken up the issues affecting people due to the BJP's misrule," he said.

Nakiya is the former vice president of the Rajkot district panchayat.

The election will be held on December 20 and counting of votes will take place on December 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)