Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja’s Wife, Ex Congress Leader Hardik Patel Get Ticket

The BJP has fielded Rivaba Jadeja, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja’s wife who joined the party in 2019, as its candidate for the Jamnagar North candidate for the Gujarat assembly polls, dropping its current MLA Dharmendrasinh M Jadeja.

Congress import Hardik Patel, from Viramgram, is also on the first list of candidates, 160 of 182, announced today, as are seven leaders who fought on the Congress ticket last time. 

From Morbi, where a bridge collapse killed over 130 people two weeks ago, the ruling party has replaced the sitting MLA, and given the ticket to a former MLA who’d reportedly jumped into the river to save some of the victims of the bridge collapse. 

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will fight from Ghatlodia.

In power in Gujarat for 27 years now, the BJP has not fielded some of its senior leaders, many of whom, such as former chief minister Vijay Rupani, announced that they were opting out on their own.

Among first-timers, Rivaba Jadeja, who’d joined the BJP in 2019, is a mechanical engineer by education and is related to Congress veteran Hari Singh Solanki. She married the cricketer in 2016.

Among Congress imports are seven who fought the 2017 elections, such as Pradyuman Jadeja and Ashwin Kotwal. Formerly Gujarat Congress’s Working President, Hardik Patel could not contest in 2017 as he did not meet the minimum age criterion of 25.

Eighty-nine segment vote in the first phase of polling on December 1. The second phase, for the remaining 93 of the 182 seats, will be held on December 5, and the result be out on December 8 along with that of Himachal Pradesh.

The BJP list announcement came the morning after the party poll panel met under the chairmanship of party chief JP Nadda on November 9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister were among the attendees.

Gujarat, PM Modi and Amit Shah’s home state where the BJP is in power for 27 years running, is seeing a three-way contest this time as the AAP has run a high-decibel campaign to become an alternative to the Congress and BJP.