NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD: The BJP on Thursday dropped 38 of its sitting MLAs in its first list of 160 for the Gujarat elections to usher in a generational change by accommodating fresh young faces, including Congress imports like Hardik Patel.
To address voter anger over the recent Morbi bridge collapse that killed a holiday crowd of over 130, the party dropped its sitting MLA Brijesh Merja and replaced him with former MLA Kantilal Amrutia. Kantilal is seen as a local hero as he had jumped into the Machchu river to save lives following the tragedy.
The first list was finalised at the party’s Central Election Committee meeting in Delhi on Wednesday in the presence of Prime Minister narendra Modi. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was among the 69 party MLAs who managed to retain their place on the list. He will contest from the Ghatlodia constituency.
Apart from Hardik, Congress turncoats who managed to get BJP tickets are Pradyumansinh Jadeja, Ashwini Kotwal, Bhagabhai Barad, Harshad Ribadiya, Jawahar Chavda, Jitubhai Chaudhari and Kunvarji Bavaliya. Hardik, 28, will contest from Viragram. He could not enter the fray in 2017 as he had not attained the minimum age of 25 years by then. Hardik was the face of the 2015 Patidar reservation agitation that had shaken up Gujarat.
Fourteen women figure in the BJP list, including Rivaba Jadeja, wife of Indian cricket all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, a Rajput. Rivaba will contest from Jamnagar (north). To accommodate her, the BJP dropped sitting MLA Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. A mechanical engineer by training, Rivaba had joined the BJP in 2019. She is expected to galvanise Rajput voters in the Jamnagar-Saurashtra region.
The party’s list also includes 13 Schedule Caste and 24 Scheduled Tribe candidates. Of the 160 names, 84 are for the first phase polls on December 1 and 76 for the second phase on December 5. The total strength of the Gujarat Assembly is 182.
4 docs, 4 PhD holders
Union minister Bhupendra Yadav said most replacements for the 38 seats were made with the consent of the incumbents. The party has also fielded four who are doctors by profession and four others who hold PhDs