Amit Shah to contest Lok Sabha election from LK Advani's Gandhinagar

New Delhi, Mar 21: Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha from Gujarat's Gandhinagar, replacing senior party leader L K Advani.

The announcement of Amit Shah contesting from Gandhinagar in the Lok Sabha election came at a press conference late evening where Union minister JP Nadda announced names of BJP candidates on 184 seats. However, Advani's name did not figure in this list.

Advani is the current Member of Parliament from Gandhinagar, he has been the Gandhinagar MP for the last five terms.

The 91-year-old, who served as home minister and deputy prime minister of the country, has won the Lok Sabha election from Gandhinagar seat six times.

Advani, credited for crafting the BJP's rise to a pre-eminent position in the late 80s and 90s after it won just two Lok Sabha seats in 1984 Lok Sabha polls, has remained on the sidelines since he voiced his reservations on the nomination of Narendra Modi as the party's prime ministerial candidature in 2014.

Alleging that first the party veteran was "forcefully" sent to the ''margdarshak mandal'', the Congress took a dig at the BJP for replacing LK Advani with national president Amit Shah in Gujarat's Gandhinagar.

"First Shri Lal Krishna Advani was forcefully sent to ''Marg Darshak Mandal and now his parliamentary constituency has been snatched," Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

पहले श्री लाल कृष्ण अडवाणी को ज़बरन ‘मार्ग दर्शक’ मंडल में भेज दिया,

अब उनकी संसदीय सीट भी छीन ली।

जब मोदीजी बुज़ुर्गों का आदर नहीं करते,
वह जनता के विश्वास का आदर कहाँ करेंगे?

भाजपा भगाओ,
देश बचाओ।#bjpfirstlist

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 21, 2019

Advani did not contest the elections in 1996 citing the Babri Masjid demolition case against him.

The first phase of voting in the seven-phase Lok Sabha election will be held on April 11.