BJP releases fourth list of candidates for Gujarat Assembly elections: Piyushbhai Desai to contest from Navsari

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its fourth list of candidates for the Gujarat Assembly election. The state goes to polls on 9 and 14 December and counting of votes will be held on 18 December. According to ANI, the saffron party named Piyushbhai Desai as its candidate from Navsari. [caption id=“attachment_4220471” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] On Monday, BJP had released its third list of 28 candidates for the Gujarat Assembly polls, fielding former minister Saurabh Patel from Botad and former state party chief RC Faldu from Jamnagar-South seat. In the third list, the party had dropped as many as 16 sitting MLAs, including three ministers, and given tickets to 10 legislators. The ministers who have been dropped are Jayanti Kavadia (the MLA from Dhrangadhra seat in Surendranagar), Vallabh Vaghasia (Savarkundla seat in Amreli) and Nanu Vanani (Katargam seat in Surat city). Kavadia had recently announced that he was not willing to contest the polls and instead wanted to work to strengthen the party. The parliamentary secretary in Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s government, Jetha Solanki, the legislator from Kodinar (SC) seat, was also dropped. Solanki had resigned as the MLA and from all party posts, alleging that Dalits faced atrocities under the BJP-led state government. Sitting MLA from the Jamnagar-South seat, Vasuben Trivedi, who was the women and child development minister when Anandiben Patel was the chief minister from 2014 to 2016, has also been dropped by the BJP this time. On Saturday, BJP had released the second list of candidates for 36 constituencies. While Gujarat water resources minister Babubhai Bokhiriya will fight for an Assembly seat from Porbandar, state home minister Pradipsinh Jadeja will contest from his constituency, Vatva. The party had released its first list on Friday. The polling for the two-phase elections in the state will take place on 9 and 14 December and votes will be counted on 18 December. With inputs from PTI