Gujarat leader who 'saved lives' in Morbi gets BJP ticket
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced the first list of 160 candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election which is scheduled next month. Current Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will be contesting from the Ghatlodiya constituency. Kantilal Amrutiya, who reportedly played a vital role in saving lives during the recent Morbi bridge collapse that claimed over 140 lives, will fight election from Morbi.
Gujarat to vote in two phases
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state is going for the Assembly election in two phases. The first phase of the 182-member Assembly election will be conducted on December 1 and the second phase on December 5. Counting will take place on December 8. BJP has ruled Gujarat for the last 25 years without a break while Modi got two terms from 2001 to 2012.
Former CM Rupani, three others decide not to contest
The former chief minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani, and three other leaders of the party decided not to contest the election in a bid to "make way for new faces." "I worked as CM for five years with everyone's cooperation and now responsibility should be given to new workers. I won't contest the poll, We'll work to make a chosen candidate win," Rupani said.
New faces make it to the list of candidates
Among senior leaders of the party, new faces who have been fielded by the BJP in the upcoming election include Hardik Patel and Rivaba Jadeja. Once a strong critic of the BJP, Patel joined the party after leaving Congress in May this year. Jadeja, a mechanical engineer by education, is the wife of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja. She joined the party in 2019.
Kantilal Amrutiya and Morbi bridge collapse
Amrutiya, a former Assembly member from the Morbi constituency, was seen trying to rescue victims of the century-old suspension bridge collapse from the river. BJP faced a strong backlash for the worst bridge collapse in recent times. It has dropped current MLA Brijesh Merja to field Amrutiya, who is said to have made it to the list after the Morbi tragedy.
38 sitting MLAs have been replaced
The party while announcing names has replaced at least 38 MLAs in the upcoming election as tickets have been denied to eleven sitting MLAs from Ahmedabad alone. In the Rajkot Parliamentary constituency in which the Morbi Assembly falls, four MLAs have been replaced. Among the new faces that have got tickets include former congressman Bhagabhai Barad and Mohansinh Rathva's son Rajendrasinh.
