A meeting of the BJP parliamentary board was held on Friday night and most of the names for the by-polls were short-listed.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to announce candidates for the by-elections to the seven assembly seats next week, after consulting party high command in New Delhi. A meeting of the BJP parliamentary board was held on Friday night and it is learnt that most of the names have been short-listed.
By-elections to the seven assembly seats — Dehgam, Chotila, Jasdan, Dhoraji, Kodinar, Danta and Sami — are scheduled to be held on September 10. The party, already in poll mode, held a meeting of the parliamentary board in the presence of chief minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar to select the candidates.
According to sources, many names were discussed by the party. Among the likely names, Kanaji Thakore, mayor of Ahmedabad, is the front-runner for the Dehgam assembly seat. According to sources, Bhavsinh Rathod, who had lost from Patan parliamentary seat on a BJP ticket after defecting from the Congress, has demanded ticket from Sami seat.
Rathod was Congress MLA from Sami but resigned from the post after filing nomination as a BJP candidate from the Patan Lok Sabha seat. Sources claimed that Bhavsinh's demand may send the party in a tizzy as he has threatened to contest as an independent if not given the party's ticket. The party leaders are in dilemma, since giving ticket to him will anger the party workers, while denying a ticket may divide the vote share of the party's candidate.
Sources claimed that the state unit, in consultation with the high command,
will declare its a day before deadline for filing nominations ends.
The party is bracing itself for tough fight in constituencies like Dhoraji, Jasdan, Sami, Danta and Dehgam. Dhoraji is the traditional stronghold of Vitthal Radadia, the Congress MP from Porbandar. The seat fell vacant after Radadia resigned as MLA from the seat, after becoming MP from Porbandar. The Congress is likely to field Jayesh Radadia, son of Vitthal Radadia from Dhoraji.
Jasdan, which fell vacant after the resignation of Congress MLA Kuvarji Bavalia, is also a tough nut to crack for the BJP. Jasdan is also the bastion of Bavalia.
Dehgam seat has fallen vacant after Jagdish Thakore won the parliamentary elections on a Congress ticket from Patan against Bhavsinh Rathod. Danta fell vacant after Mukesh Gadhvi won the parliamentary elections from Banaskantha. Danta is a stronghold of Gadhvi.
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