BJP announces list of candidates for Gujarat polls, Hardik Patel makes the cut

Ahmedabad, Nov 10: The Gujarat BJP on Thursday announced the first list of candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls and Hardik Patel, who quit Congress and joined the saffron party in June this year, has been given the ticket to contest the poll from Viramgam constituency.

Going by the list, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will be contesting the elections from the Ghatlodiya constituency, Gujarat Home minister Harsh Sanghavi from the Majura constituency, and cricketer Ravindrasinh Jadeja's wife Rivaba Jadeja from the Jamnagar Uttar constituency.

BJP national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam announced the names of candidates for 100 constituencies to contest in the polls. The party named its candidates for 84 of the 89 seats which will go to the polls in the first phase on December 1 and 76 of 93 candidates going to the polls in the second phase on December 5.

Former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, senior party leader Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and former state Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel are not contesting the polls.

ગુજરાત વિધાનસભા ચૂંટણી - 2022 માટે ભારતીય જનતા પાર્ટીના જાહેર થયેલા સૌ ઉમેદવારોને ખૂબ ખૂબ અભિનંદન અને શુભકામનાઓ... (3/3)#ભરોસાની_ભાજપ_સરકાર#કમળ_ખીલશે_ગુજરાત_જીતશે#આ_ગુજરાત_મેં_બનાવ્યું_છે pic.twitter.com/f4Z1r8KmVt

— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) November 10, 2022

The central election committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), also comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda, finalised the candidates, according to PTI.

ગુજરાત વિધાનસભા ચૂંટણી - 2022 માટે ભારતીય જનતા પાર્ટીના જાહેર થયેલા સૌ ઉમેદવારોને ખૂબ ખૂબ અભિનંદન અને શુભકામનાઓ... (2/3)#ભરોસાની_ભાજપ_સરકાર#કમળ_ખીલશે_ગુજરાત_જીતશે#આ_ગુજરાત_મેં_બનાવ્યું_છે pic.twitter.com/0aS6JhGpUU

— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) November 10, 2022

Union Minister Bhupinder Yadav, who was also present at the press meet, said the list includes 69 sitting MLAs, indicating that a large number of incumbent legislators has been dropped.

Polling will be held in two phases in Gujarat on December 1 and 5.

The list includes 14 women, and 13 and 24 members from the Schedules Castes and Schedules Tribes respectively.

The BJP is aiming to set a new record in terms of the number of seats won and the entry of the AAP has made it a triangular fight this time in the state which was traditionally known for its bipolar elections.

In the fiercely fought elections five years ago, the BJP had won 99 seats and its main rival Congress bagged 77 seats.

Currently, the BJP's strength in the 182-member Assembly is 111 after several MLAs from the Congress defected to it and it is unlikely that the saffron party will repeat all the incumbent MLAs.