Page 9 - Gujarat Elections

Gujarat: BJP candidates list out, Alpesh contesting from Gandhinagar South

The party has fielded Mahesh Bhuria from Jhalod, Jayantibhai Rathwa from Jaitpur and Keur Rokdia from Sayajiganj.

If BJP wins majority, Bhupendra Patel will be CM of Gujarat again: Shah

Bhupendra Patel will remain the chief minister of Gujarat if BJP secures a majority in the next month's Assembly elections, senior party leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday. Shah's statement makes it clear that Patel is the chief ministerial candidate of the BJP, which is eyeing the seventh consecutive term in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah. "If BJP gets a majority in Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel will be the next chief minister," Shah told CNN-News18 here. Patel replaced Vijay Rupani as the chief minister in September 2021, a move that surprised many. He is the first-time MLA from the Ghatlodia constituency. He is renominated from the same seat. Earlier, Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party had declared party leader Isudan Gadhvi as the chief ministerial candidate after conducting a "public survey". Congress has decided not to declare the CM face for the elections. Voting for the total of 182 seats in Gujarat will be held in two phases on

Congress appoints observers to oversee the upcoming Gujarat elections

The Congress on Monday appointed a host of observers to oversee the upcoming Gujarat elections. While the party has appointed five zonal observers, it has appointed 32 observers in each of the 32 Lok Sabha constituencies and five other observers. AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik will be the party observer for the South zone headquartered in Surat while Mohan Prakash will oversee the polls in Saurashtra zone and will be headquartered at Rajkot. Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan will be positioned at Baroda and oversee the polls for central region and BK Hariprasad will look after the North zone and will be headquartered at Ahmedabad. Congress leader KH Muniappa will be the fifth zonal observer. The Congress is seeking to oust the BJP from power in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi where the saffron party has been in power for more than two decades. Elections for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The ...

Gujarat Assembly polls: Congress declares 39 candidates in 5th, 6th lists

The Congress on Sunday released two lists of 39 candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections, fielding Jignesh Mevani from the Vadgam constituency. The party first released its fifth list with six candidates including Manhar Patel from Botad in place of Ramesh Mer. Later in the evening, it released a list of 33 candidates, taking the total number of candidates declared so far to 142. The candidates named in the fifth list were Jayanti Jerajbhai Patel from Morbi, Jivan Kumbharvadiya from Jamnagar Rural, Chhattarsinh Gunjariya from Dhrangadhra, Mansukhbhai Kalariya from Rajkot West and Divyesh Chavda from Gariadhar. In the sixth list of 33 candidates, the candidates fielded by the Congress included Mevani from Vadgam (SC) seat, Thakor Mohansinh from Mansa, Baldevji Thakor from Kalol, Imran Khedawala from Jamalpur-Khadia, Amit Chavda from Anklav and Bal Kishen Patel from Dabhoi. The Congress had on November 4 released its first list announcing the names of 43 candidates for the ...

Gujarat polls: BJP faces rebellion, 5 threaten to contest as independents

At least one sitting Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and four former legislators have threatened to contest as independents after being denied tickets by the BJP for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. While some of these disgruntled leaders have said they will make their next move after consulting supporters, former BJP MLA and the party's known tribal face Harshad Vasava already filed his nomination papers on Friday as an independent from Nandod seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates. Vasava is the president of Gujarat BJP's Scheduled Tribe Morcha and represented the erstwhile Rajpipla seat between 2002 and 2007 and from 2007 to 2012. Nandod in Narmada district is currently held by the Congress. The BJP has fielded Dr Darshana Deshmukh from the seat. Unhappy over the announcement, Vasava resigned from his post in the BJP and submitted his nomination papers for the Nandod seat on Friday. Elections for the 182 member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1

Guj Assembly polls: 324 candidates file nomination forms; AAP leads with 70

A total of 324 candidates have filed nominations for the two-phase polls to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly since the process began on November 5, an official said on Saturday. While 316 candidates have filed nomination forms for the first phase of polling on December 1, eight for the second phase on December 5, a release from the state's chief electoral officer said. Votes will be counted on December 8. As per information made available by poll authorities, 70 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates have filed nominations, followed by 52 from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 48 from the opposition Congress, 21 from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), nine from the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) and several Independents. AAP candidates have filed 14 nominations for seats in Surat district, 12 in Rajkot and eight in Kutch, it said. Nominations have been filed in different districts such as Kutch, Surendranagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, ..

Guj polls: Congress promises jobs, electricity, LPG, unemployment allowance

Ten lakh jobs in government and semi-government departments, free medical treatment of up to Rs 10 lakh, LPG cylinder at Rs 500 and 300 units of free electricity every month are some of the key promises that the Congress made in its manifesto for the Gujarat elections. In the manifesto released on Saturday, the grand old party, which has been out of power in the state for more than two decades, also promised unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 per month, Rs 2,000 pension to divyangs, widows, senior citizens and needy women, and waiver of loans of up to Rs 3 lakh of all fishermen, among other things. Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress's senior observer for Gujarat polls Ashok Gehlot released the manifesto at the state party headquarters here in the presence of other party leaders. Elections to the 182-member Assembly in Gujarat, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is currently in power, will be held in two phases - on December 1 and 5 - and the counting of votes will be taken up

Gujarat Assembly elections: BJP releases second list of six candidates

Earlier on Thursday, the BJP had announced the first list of candidates for 160 candidates out of the 182 constituencies for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections

Ex-Guj min Solanki, Rivaba Jadeja among candidates in 1st phase of polls

Former Gujarat minister Parshottam Solanki, seven-time MLA Kunwarji Bavaliya, Morbi 'hero' Kantilal Amrutiya, Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's wife Rivaba and Gujarat AAP president Gopal Italia are among the 10 prominent candidates who will be in the fray in the first phase of Assembly elections to be held on December 1. In the first round, 89 of the total 182 Assembly seats will go to polls and prominent political parties have declared their candidates for almost all these constituencies. Following are the names of the 10 prominent candidates across main parties - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) - and Assembly seats from where they will be contesting. 1) Kantilal Amrutiya (BJP): When a suspension bridge over a river in Morbi town collapsed two weeks back, Amrutiya, a five-time former BJP MLA who was almost forgotten in political circles, suddenly came into limelight as videos showing him jumping into the water to rescue the victims wen

Best of BS Opinion: Climate concerns, Patidars and patronage & more

Here are the top BS Opinion articles of the day

Patidars and patronage

In unofficially endorsing Bhupendra Patel for another term as chief minister, the BJP has clearly bowed to caste pressure

LIVE: PM Narendra Modi conducts road show in Andhra Pradesh's Vizag

From PM Modi's visit to southern states to Congress releasing its second list of candidates ahead of Gujarat polls, catch all the live updates here

Cong, NCP forge alliance in Gujarat; Pawar's party to contest 3 seats

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) entered into a pre-poll alliance for the next month's Gujarat Assembly elections, as part of which the Sharad Pawar-led party will contest three of the total 182 seats in the state, the leaders of the two parties announced here on Friday. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the two parties had contested the Gujarat elections separately. NCP's Kandhal Jadeja was the only MLA to win from the party. He represents the Kutiyana Assembly seat in Porbandar district. Making an announcement about the alliance, Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor said, "NCP will fight the upcoming Assembly polls in the state in alliance with the Congress. The NCP will contest three seats - Umreth (Anand district), Naroda (Ahmedabad) and Devgadh Baria (Dahod district) as part of the alliance." These three seats are currently held by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "The Congress has decided to forge an alliance with those parties that were with u

AAP banking on Patidars to power its foray into BJP-ruled Gujarat

"The 'Babbar Sher' (lion) has come, now no one else stands a chance here," said a youngster as Alpesh Kathiriya, AAP candidate from the Varachha Road Assembly constituency, arrived at a residential colony here on a motorcycle with his supporters in tow. Kathiriya along with his supporters went from door to door chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and urging residents, many of whom came out of their houses after seeing his cavalcade, to vote for him in the upcoming state polls. "We are with you," an elderly woman assured 28-year-old Kathiriya, who was a prominent leader of the 2015 Patidar quota agitation in Gujarat and earned the sobriquet 'Babbar Sher' for his aggressive and uncompromising stand on the issue. Kathiriya told PTI that the BJP has betrayed the Patidar community, which was once a staunch supporter of the saffron party. "During the 2017 Assembly polls, they (BJP) had promised that they would withdraw all cases filed against us but did not do so after returning to power. They

Gujarat polls: 21 sitting Congress MLAs in party's 2nd list of candidates

The Congress, which has been out of power in Gujarat for more than two decades, has fielded 21 of its sitting MLAs in the state for next month's Assembly elections. In its second list of 46 candidates, the grand old party has also named four Muslim candidates. The Gujarat Assembly elections will be held in two phases - on December 1 and 5, and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. Of the total 182 seats of the Gujarat Assembly, voting for the 89 seats will be held on December 1 in the first phase. On November 4, the Congress had announced its first list having names of candidates for 43 seats of both first phase and second phase of polls. But in the second list, all the 46 candidates are for the first phase. The Congress has so far announced candidates for 68 seats of the first phase, while announcement is awaited for 21 seats, including Morbi, Talala, Bhavnagar-Rural, Dhari, Kodinar, Rapar, Bharuch, Rajkot East, Rajkot West, Jambusar, Navsari and Jamnagar Rural. A

Congress releases second list of 46 candidates for Gujarat assembly polls

The party had announced its first list on November 4, in which 43 candidates were announced

Gujarat elections: Morbi MLA among 5 ministers denied ticket in BJP

Five Gujarat ministers including the MLA from Morbi are among 38 sitting BJP members of the Assembly who have been denied ticket by the party for the upcoming state elections. Minister of State for Labour and Employment Brijesh Merja, the legislator from Morbi where a bridge collapse incident last month claimed 135 lives, is among those dropped from the list of 160 candidates whose names were announced by the BJP on Thursday. Gujarat Assembly Speaker Nimaben Acharya, who won from Bhuj seat of Kutch district in 2012 and 2017, has also been denied ticket this time by the party. The BJP on Thursday released its first list of 160 candidates for the two-phase elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly to be held on December 1 and 5. The party has fielded Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel from his constituency Ghatlodia and dropped a number of sitting MLAs. From the present cabinet, the BJP has denied tickets to state Parliamentary and Legislative Affairs Minister Rajendra Trivedi, Socia

AAP trying to position as BJP's main challenger in upcoming Gujarat polls

The Aam Aadmi Party is aggressively trying to position itself as the ruling BJP's main contender in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections, notwithstanding its poor show in the 2017 state polls when all its 29 candidates lost their deposits. The AAP claims it has now been successful in reaching out to the people of Gujarat with its national convener Arvind Kejriwal having visited the state multiple times in the recent past, offering a slew of 'guarantees' if the party is voted to power. The party has also named Isudan Gadhvi, a former TV anchor and journalist, as its chief ministerial candidate for next month's Gujarat Assembly elections. A candidate loses deposit in an election when he/she fails to secure one-sixth (16.7 per cent) of the total votes polled in the constituency. Before the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls, the AAP had fielded candidates on 24 out of the 26 Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat in the 2014 general elections and its nominees fared badly. The party stayed away fro

Guj polls: BJP candidates list out, Jadeja's wife to contest from Jamnagar

Former Congress leader Hardik Patel, who quit the party and joined the BJP, will contest the elections from the Viramgam constituency

Gujarat Congress MLA resigns ahead of polls, third to quit in two days

Congress MLA from Jhalod in Gujarat's Dahod district Bhavesh Katara has resigned as the legislator, ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections. He is the third Congress MLA to resign in the last two days after Mohansinh Rathwa and Bhagwan Barad. Katara went to the residence of Assembly Speaker Nimaben Acharya on Wednesday night and submitted his resignation to her, an official statement said. His resignation comes at a time when the BJP is finalising candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections. Katara is likely to join the BJP on Thursday. Earlier, Rathwa and Barad also joined the saffron party after resigning from the Congress party and as MLAs. Gujarat elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5, and counting of votes will be held on December 8.