PremiumGujarat Assembly polls: At least one sitting BJP MLA and four former legislators have threatened to contest as independents after they were denied tickets by the BJP
With Gujarat elections in the offing, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has got a big jolt. At least one sitting BJP MLA and four former legislators have threatened to contest as independents after they were denied tickets by the party for the two-phase Assembly election.
Harshad Vasava already filed his nomination papers on Friday as an independent from Nandod (Scheduled Tribe reserved) seat. Notably, Harshad Vasava is the president of Gujarat BJP's Scheduled Tribe Morcha and had represented the erstwhile Rajpipla seat between 2002 and 2007 and from 2007 to 2012. Nandod in the Narmada district is currently held by Congress. The BJP has fielded Dr Darshana Deshmukh from the seat.
"There is an original BJP and a duplicate BJP here. We will expose those who have sidelined committed workers and given key posts to newcomers. I have sent my resignation to the party. People of this area know how much work I have done as an MLA between 2002 and 2012," Vasava said.
In the Vadodara district, one sitting and two former BJP MLAs are up in arms against the party after being denied tickets. Six-time MLA Madhu Shrivastav from Vaghodia, who was denied a ticket, has said he will contest as an independent if his supporters wanted him to. The BJP has fielded Ashwin Patel from the seat.
Another former BJP MLA Dinesh Patel aka Dinu Mama of Padra seat in Vadodara district has also said he would contest polls independently. The BJP has given the ticket to Chaitanyasinh Zala. The seat is held by Congress.
In Karjan, former BJP MLA Satish Patel is unhappy after the BJP decided to repeat sitting legislator Akshay Patel. Akshay Patel had won on Congress ticket from the seat in 2017, but then joined the BJP in 2020 and won a subsequent bypoll.
Yesterday, Arvind Ladani, former BJP MLA of Keshod seat of Junagadh, announced that he would fight the polls as an independent after the party gave a ticket to current MLA Devabhai Malam. "People of Keshod are angry because I was denied a ticket by the BJP. People know how much work I have done for Keshod. Thus, people as well as my supporters have asked me to fight as an independent. I will file my nomination on November 14," said Ladani, who was MLA from 2012 to 2017.
The BJP has so far named candidates for 166 Assembly segments of the total 182.
The Gujarat Assembly election will be held on December 1 and 5.