As many as 1,362 candidates have filed the nominations for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly polls in 89 seats, state election officials said. Among notable candidates who have filed their nomination for the first phase are Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s CM candidate Bhupendra Patel and Aam Aadmi Party’s chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi.
The elections for 89 out of the total 182 seats will be held on December 1. Nominations have been filed for the first phase by candidates in Kutch, Surendranagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Botad, Narmada, Bharuch, Surat, Tapi, Dangs, Navsari and Valsad districts, under Saurashtra-Kutch and south Gujarat regions.
Besides, 95 candidates have also filed the nomination forms for the second phase of elections to be held in 93 seats on December 5. The last dates for the withdrawal of candidature for the first and second phases are November 17 and 21, respectively.
Winnability is BJP's criteria
The BJP changed all four candidates in Rajkot and replaced 12 of the 15 announced for Ahmedabad. Of the total 46 urban seats, the BJP had won 40 in 2017, when its total tally stood at 99. The party introduced new faces for 21 of the 39 urban seats.
Quota warrior Hardik Patel will make his political debut from Viramgam on the BJP ticket. His contemporary and OBC rights activist Alpesh Thakor will contest from Gandhinagar (south). Nineteen or 12% of the 160 names declared are that of Congress turncoats. The party has given tickets to 14 women.
Congress declares 142 candidates
The Congress has declared 142 candidates so far. Gandhinagar North MLA C J Chavda has been shifted to the Vijapur seat, while former Union minister Tushar Chaudhary has been named as candidate from the Khedbrahma seat.
Sangramsinh Rathwa, son of former Union minister Naran Rathwa has been fielded from the ST-reserved Chhota Udepur seat. Leader of opposition Sukhram Rathva has been repeated from the ST reserved Jetpur seat.
Jignesh Mevani, who won the 2017 assembly election as an independent with Congress support, has been named as candidate from the SC reserved Vadgam constituency and former BJP MLA Balkrishna Patel has been named candidate from the Dabhoi seat and more.
Muslims lose tickets
Muslims, who make up 9% of Gujarat's population, have never enjoyed proportionate representation in the legislative body. With "winnability" cited as the primary criterion by both main political parties, Muslim representation in the state assembly has steadily decreased.
There are six Muslims among the 140 candidates the Congress has so far put forward, but there are none among the 166 candidates the BJP has put forward. In this election, the Congress' minority wing has requested 11 tickets for Muslims. However, it had been 27 years since Muslim candidates received more than 10 Congress tickets.
