Zala, a popular Thakor community leader, had won the Bayad seat in Aravalli district on a Congress ticket during the 2017 Assembly elections.
A controversy has erupted after Congress turncoat Dhavalsinh Zala's posters declaring him as the BJP candidate for Bayad Assembly constituency went viral on social media, even before the saffron party could officially declare its candidates for the six Assembly seats going to polls.
Apparently, Zala, a popular Thakor community leader, had won the Bayad seat in Aravalli district on a Congress ticket during the 2017 Assembly elections. However, he along with Alpesh Thakor, switched sides and jumped to BJP after tendering resignations to Assembly speaker Rajendra Trivedi on July 5.
In the poster doing round on social media, it is mentioned that Zala would become the voice of poor people of Bayad and people have been requested him to join on September 30 for filing of his nomination. The poster also contains a BJP logo along that with of Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena.
Speaking to DNA, Zala said he has nothing to do with the poster and someone has played mischief as part of a conspiracy against him. "I have no role in the poster. It is a conspiracy against me and to defame the Thakor community. It is for the party to decide who will get the ticket and I will support the decision of the party," he said.
Interestingly, Zala in 2017 had defeated a strong BJP contender Adesinh Chauhan, who is reportedly unhappy with the Thakor leader being considered for the seat by the BJP's leadership. BJP sources said the party will release the list of its candidates for the by-elections by the end of the week, which will clear the air about the party's preferred candidates for the elections.
As per the election schedule declared by the Election Commission (EC), the last date for filing nominations for Bayad is September 30, whereas the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 3. The election for the seat will be held on October 21 and the counting of votes has been scheduled on October 24.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Congress has adopted a bottom-up approach for selection of candidates for the by-elections. Two prospective candidates will be chosen for each of the six Assembly seats based on the feedback of the party's grassroots workers.
The six seats where by-elections are scheduled, include Radhanpur, Bayad, Amraiwadi, Tharad, Lunawada, and Kheralu. Apart from Radhanpur and Bayad.
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