Twelve rebels who filed their nominations as independent candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections after being denied tickets by the ruling party have been suspended in disciplinary action by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The twelve rebels were seeking seats in the Assembly.
After the party suspended seven rebels on Sunday, this is the second list of rebels who have been placed on administrative leave.
“These MLAs have been suspended for six years for having indulged in antiparty activities,” a BJP communication reveals, quoting state president C.R. Paatil.
Dinubhai Patel from Padra, Madhubhai Shrivastav from Vaghodia, and Kuldeep Sinh Raul, all of whom are from the Vadodara district, are among the BJP leaders who have been suspended.
Ram Sinh Thakor from Mehsana, Dhawal Sinh Jhala from Aravalli, and B Pagi from Shahera in the Panchmahal district have also been suspended.
From the districts of Anand, Banaskantha, and Mahisagar, two people have each been suspended. Banaskantha residents Manavjibhai Desai and L Thakor, Mahisagar residents SM Baant and JP Patel, and Anand district residents Ramesh Jhala and Amarshi Bhai Jhala have all been suspended.
42 current MLAs have been rejected tickets by the BJP, which is running for reelection in Gujarat for a seventh term.
The party eliminated 38 existing MLAs after announcing its sizable initial batch of 160 candidates. Three further lists of candidates for the remaining Assembly seats were later unveiled by the ruling party.
Former chief minister Vijay Rupani, former deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, and party leader Patil were among the prominent members of the party who had expressed a desire not to run in the upcoming elections.
The BJP was stopped at 99 seats out of a total of 182 seats in the 2017 elections in Gujarat. With Narendra Modi serving as the state’s chief minister for the longest period of time, the party has been in power for the past 27 years.
This election, the party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and CR Paatil hopes to secure more than 140 seats.
The state has historically been a BJP stronghold, and the party has set its sights on winning a seventh term in office. From 2001 to 2014, PM Modi served as Gujarat’s chief minister for the longest period of time.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has chosen Isudan Gadhvi as its candidate for chief minister, will, however, present a formidable electoral challenge to it.
In order to overthrow the BJP government, the Congress also intends to put its best electoral foot forward.
Gujarat, which has 182 assembly constituencies, will hold two rounds of voting on December 1 and 5. On December 8, which is also the day of the announcement of the results for Himachal Pradesh, the votes will be counted.