Former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, ex-Dy CM Nitin Patel, two other BJP leaders not to fight Assembly polls

New Delhi: Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, ex-deputy CM Nitin Patel and two other leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday (November 9, 2022) announced they will not fight the upcoming Assembly elections.

"I have decided not to fight elections this time," Rupani, a sitting MLA who was the chief minister from August 2016 to September 2021, told reporters in Rajkot without elaborating. 

Former deputy CM Patel wrote a handwritten letter to Gujarat BJP president CR Paatil and said he should not be considered for the ticket from Mehsana, his current Assembly seat, as he has decided not to contest the December elections. 

Two other BJP leaders -- Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Pradipsinh Jadeja -- who were senior ministers in the Rupani cabinet and are sitting MLAs, also declared that they will not fight the next month's polls. 

Voting to elect a new 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held on December 1 and 5, and counting will take place on December 8.

PM Narendra Modi chairs BJP's election committee meet to finalise candidates for Gujarat assembly polls

The development came at a time when the Central Parliament Board of the BJP has convened a meeting to finalise the names of candidates for the polls in New Delhi under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, BJP president JP Nadda and other top leaders also attended the meeting at the party headquarters in the national capital.

BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting begins at the party HQ in Delhi.#GujaratElections2022 pic.twitter.com/N1na7uEIFI — ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2022

As per reports, Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor, who left the Congress to join the saffron party, are likely to get party tickets. Patel may be fielded from Viramgam in Ahmedabad.

Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's wife Rivaba Jadeja is also among the probable candidates.

The BJP is likely to field Kantilal Amrutya, a former MLA from Morbi, who reportedly jumped into the river to save people after the collapse of a bridge, which killed more than 130 people.

The BJP is eyeing a seventh consecutive victory in the state.

In the fiercely fought Gujarat polls five years ago, the BJP had won 99 seats and its main rival Congress bagged 77 seats.

Currently, the BJP's strength in the 182-member Assembly is 111 after several MLAs from Congress defected to it and it is unlikely that the saffron party will repeat all the incumbent MLAs.

The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) entry into Gujarat this time has opened a new front in the otherwise bipolar election.

(With agency inputs)