Page 10 - Gujarat Elections

BJP finalises most seats for Gujarat polls, announcement likely today

Former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and senior party leader Bhupendrasinh Chudasama have said they will not contest the elections

BJP CEC discusses on 182 Gujarat seats, 1st candidates' list likely today

According to sources, in the marathon meetings held on Wednesday, it has been decided not to give party tickets to several other veteran leaders and induct young party leaders.

Gujarat polls: Congress MLA Bhagwan Barad quits, joins BJP; 2nd in two days

In another jolt to the opposition Congress on the second day in a row ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls, senior MLA Bhagwan Barad on Wednesday resigned as a legislator and primary member and joined BJP. Barad, 63, who had won the Talala seat in Gir Somnath district in 2017, sent his resignation letter to Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor and also handed it over to Speaker Nimaben Acharya. The development comes a day after 10-time Congress MLA and tribal leader, Mohansinh Rathva, resigned and joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Barad, also known as Bhaga Barad, was welcomed into the BJP fold by state general secretary Pradipsinh Vaghela at the party's media centre in Ahmedabad. Barad told reporters he decided to quit the party after consulting at least 4,000 of his supporters and will fight the next month's elections if BJP wants him to, but added that he is not joining BJP with any pre-condition to get a poll ticket. Gujarat will vote in two phases on December 1 an

Former Gujarat CM Rupani, ex-Dy CM Patel not to contest Assembly polls

Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and ex-deputy CM Nitin Patel, both senior leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Wednesday night announced they will not fight the next month's Assembly elections. Their statements came at a time when the Central Parliament Board of the BJP has convened a meeting to finalise the names of candidates for the polls in New Delhi under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I have decided not to fight elections this time, Rupani told reporters in Rajkot without elaborating. Rupani (66), a sitting MLA, was the chief minister from August 2016 to September 2021. Former deputy CM Patel, in a hand written letter sent to Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil, said he should not be considered for ticket from Mehsana, his current Assembly seat, as he has decided not to contest the December elections. Two other BJP leaders, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Pradipsinh Jadeja, who were senior ministers in the Rupani cabinet, have also ...

BJP using CAA, NRC with eye on Gujarat assembly polls: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the BJP was "using" Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) with an eye on the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo asserted that she will never allow the implementation of CAA or NRC in West Bengal. She accused the saffron camp of trying to "bring in its supporters from other states and make them voters of West Bengal, while snatching the rights of the permanent residents of the eastern state". Iterating that the BJP won't return to power after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Banerjee said that the country's political situation was changing fast, and it is very different from that of 2019. "Whenever any election approaches, the BJP speaks of implementing CAA and NRC. With upcoming Gujarat assembly polls later this year, and Lok Sabha elections just a year-and-a-half away, it has again started to flare up the CAA issue. "Will the BJP decide who is

BJP 'using' CAA with eye on upcoming Gujarat elections: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the BJP was "using" Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) with an eye on the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo asserted that she will never allow the implementation of CAA in West Bengal. Banerjee also accused the saffron camp of trying to fan separatism in West Bengal by raking up statehood demands, and iterated she will never allow the division of the state. "Whenever any election approaches, the BJP speaks of implementing CAA and NRC. With upcoming Gujarat assembly polls later this year, and Lok Sabha elections just a year-and-half away, it has again started to flare up the CAA issue. "Will the BJP decide who is a citizen and who is not? Matuas are very much citizens of this country," Banerjee said, while addressing party workers in Krishnanagar. The politically powerful Matua community has its origin in East Bengal or present-day ...

Gujarat assembly polls: BJP likely to finalise all candidates today

The BJP's top leadership will on Wednesday deliberate upon the candidates for Gujarat assembly polls, where the party is eyeing a win for the seventh time. The BJP's central election committee, also comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will meet here in the evening to finalise the candidates. Elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases -- December 1 and 5. The BJP is likely to finalise all 183 candidates during the meeting and may announce the list in the next few days, sources said. Aiming to set a new record in terms of share in seats, the party is looking to inject new energy into the organisation. Hence, the possibility of dropping out several senior leaders cannot be ruled out, they said. The sources also said the party has received suggestions that it should opt for new and young faces. In the fiercely fought 2017 elections, the BJP had won 99 seats and its main rival Congress 77. Currently, the BJP's stre

BJP core group meet at JP Nadda's residence to discuss Gujarat elections

The meeting at Nadda's residence was attended by Amit Shah, Bhupendra Patel, CR Patil, Mansukh Mandaviya, Purshottam Rupala, Ratnakar and B L Santosh

AAP will never come to power so promise of freebies don't matter: Gadkari

'Those who are never likely to come to the power can promise anything as they have zero possibilities of coming at the centre'

Senior Gujarat Congress leader Mohansinh Rathva quits party, joins BJP

In his resignation letter, the senior tribal leader from central Gujarat and 10-time MLA gave no reason for quitting

Mohan Singh Rathwa quits Cong, joins BJP ahead of Gujarat election

Days ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat, veteran Congress Party leader and 11 times MLA Mohan Singh Rathwa, a prominent tribal leader joined BJP after quitting from the Congress.

Assembly elections 2022: Nadda, Shah hold meeting with Gujarat BJP leaders

BJP president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday held a meeting here with party leaders from Gujarat to deliberate upon the candidates for upcoming assembly polls in the state. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupender Patel, Union ministers Manuskh Mandaviya and Parshottam Rupala and BJP's state unit president C R Patil were present in the meeting organised at the Nadda's residence. Besides, BJP's national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh and Gujarat unit's general secretary (organisation) Ratnakar also attended the meeting. On Monday, a marathon meeting was held at Shah's residence which was attended by BJP leaders from Gujarat. The assembly elections in Gujarat are scheduled to be held in two phases -- December 1 and 5.

Shah highlights PM Modi's efforts to boost drinking water supply in Gujarat

Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday shared a short video to highlight Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to augment water supply in Gujarat, saying the state suffered from water crisis 21 years ago, but every household is now receiving it through taps. Every countryman, especially the young generation in Gujarat, must watch the video that highlights Modi's "foresight and hardwork" in dealing with the state's water crisis, he said on Twitter. The video says the water table in the state had plummeted to 200 metre in 2001, the year Modi took over as its chief minister, from 30 metre in 1975, with its dry and arid area increasing. Through various schemes, the then state government under Modi built a network of canals spanning across 1,126 km and supplied piped water to households while height of the Narmada dam was raised to 138.68 metre, it says. Modi was Gujarat chief minister from 2001-14 before becoming the prime minister. Assembly polls in the state are scheduled to be held on

Karnataka cabinet expansion likely after Gujarat polls, hints CM Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday indicated that the expansion of his Cabinet is likely after Gujarat Assembly polls. Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5, with the counting of votes on December 8. "Cabinet expansion...I have already spoken.....our leadership is a bit busy with the Gujarat elections, as soon as it is over they will call me (for discussions)," Bommai said in response to a question. The Chief Minister had recently said that he will soon be travelling to New Delhi to meet BJP central leadership to discuss the exercise. Bommai has been under intense pressure for some time now, over expansion and rejig of Cabinet not taking place, to make way for the fresh faces, ahead of Assembly elections next year. There were some reports of possible cabinet expansion by filling in six vacant posts or a kind of a rejig by dropping a few and inducting an equal number of new faces. There were also talks in some quarters that a Gujarat-like com

AAP declares 12 more candidates for upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday announced the names of 12 more candidates, including former Patidar quota leader Alpesh Kathiriya, for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, which has been trying to project itself as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) main contender in Gujarat, released its 11th list of candidates on Monday. With this, it has so far declared 130 candidates for polls to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly which will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. Kathiriya has been given the ticket from the Patidar-dominated Varachha Road seat in Surat city, currently held by former minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kishor Kanani. Kathiriya was a close aide of quota spearhead Hardik Patel, who joined the BJP earlier this year after quitting the Congress. Another Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Dharmik Malaviya has been chosen for the Olpad seat in Surat, a

'We have made this Gujarat': PM Modi launches new election slogan

Recalling the time when the state lacked doctors, hospitals and basic infrastructure, PM Modi said that it was due to every Gujarati that Gujarat today has one of the best healthcare facilities

LIVE news: Smog continues to envelop Delhi-NCR amid worsening air pollution

From PM Modi's upcoming rally in poll-bound Gujarat to Musk's Twitter charging $8 for blue tick, catch all the live updates from across the globe here

Gujarat Assembly polls: Banks directed to report suspicious transactions

In view of the upcoming Assembly polls in Gujarat, the Election Commission (EC) has directed all banks in the state to keep a watch on suspicious transactions of more than Rs 10 lakh in the accounts, officials said on Sunday. The banks have been instructed to also report transactions of more than Rs 1 lakh in the accounts opened by poll candidates, they said. As per the EC's guidelines, poll candidates cannot spend more than Rs 40 lakh during campaigning and they have to open a separate account for that purpose. All the transactions above Rs 10,000 must be done through cheques, RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement) or drafts, a senior state official said. To convey these instructions, nodal officers of the expenditure monitoring cells in all 33 districts of Gujarat convened meetings with senior bank officials in the last two days, said Sahdevsinh Solanki, accounts officer at the office of Gujarat's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). "As per guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India and the E

Uttar Pradesh government's ministers to play key role in Gujarat elections

The Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5

Gujarat polls: PM Narendra Modi to address rally in Valsad district

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public meeting in Valsad district of poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday and attend a mass marriage programme in Bhavnagar, a BJP functionary said. This will be the prime minister's first visit to his home state after the Election Commission declared polls for the 182-member Assembly. PM Modi will address a rally in Nana Pondha in Valsad district on Sunday afternoon. He will attend a mass marriage function in Bhavnagar in the evening, BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said on Saturday. Elections will be held in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Gujarat in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. In the 2017 elections, the BJP had won 99 seats out of the total 182 and the Congress bagged 77. This time, the poll contest will be triangular in view of the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) entry into the fray.