PAAS leader Dilip Sabva withdraws from Gandhinagar

Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Dilip Sabva withdrew his nomination from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat on Monday. BJP president Amit Shah is among the candidates in fray from the high-profile seat.

Sabva, who had submitted his nomination as an independent, withdrew his candidature on Monday, the last day for doing so.

The Patidar quota leader said that he had withdrawn from the poll fray since he did not wish to take the blame for dividing anti-BJP votes.

"After meeting people of Gandhinagar in the last couple of days, I realised that defeat of (MLA and Congress candidate) CJ Chavda is imminent. I do not want people to blame me for division of votes. If I had contested, Congress would have claimed that its candidate lost because of me. Since I do not want to take the blame, I have withdrawn my nomination," Sabva said. He also claimed that he had sought Congress's support for his candidature, but the party had fielded Chavda as its candidate.

According to officials, ten other candidates also withdrew their nomination from Gandhinagar seat on Monday. 17 candidates, including seven independents, remain in the fray for April 23 polls.