Former MP, ex-MLAs among BJP ticket aspirants for two Ahmedabad seats

Ahmedabad East and Ahmedabad West, both Lok Sabha seats falling in Ahmedabad city have seen a huge demand for tickets in the past two days.

At least 20 aspirants made their representation personally or through their supporters to present their claims for a ticket. The names which were put before the observers showed a great range as senior leaders and junior workers of the party try their luck.

For the Ahmedabad East seat, the names that appeared before the panel of the three observers include former union minister Harin Pathak, former minister in the Gujarat government Nirmala Vadhwani, former MLA and son of senior minister Ashok Bhatt, Bhushan, Bollywood actor Manoj Joshi, Patidar community leader and former MLA CK Patel and many more. The observers met the aspirants on Thursday for the seat.

One of the observers said on condition of anonymity, "There was a buzz in the media that actor and sitting MP Paresh Rawal will not get the ticket and therefore we had assumed that he would not present the claim for a ticket again. However, surpisingly, his proposal also was brought by his supporters. Aspirants such as Vadhwani, Bhushan and CK Patel sought the ticket saying their community should get representation."

The Ahmedabad West seat that is reserved for the scheduled caste community saw a similar demand. Dalit leaders, including former ministers, ex-MLAs and some former and present municipal corporators on Friday demanded the ticket.

The names that have appeared are former minister and Speaker of Gujarat Assembly Ramanlal Vora and Atmaram Parmar, former MLA RM Patel and Jitu Vaghela, former municipal councillor Darshana Vaghela and others. Naturally, sitting MP Dr Kirit Solanki also sought the ticket again. However, his name is believed to have been dropped.

A senior leader from the BJP said on condition of anonymity, "BJP has a wide range of options for reserved category candidates too. We received over 20 applications. The party high command would have made up its mind for a particular candidate but we have a chance to analyse the political equations in the constituency. We will send our report to the parliamentary board of party with a few recommendations."

"The party has also decided that the Congress MLAs who quit recently and joined the BJP would be fielded as party candidates from the same seat in the by-polls that are to be held with Lok Sabha polls on April 23. There could be an exception for one or two seats where the party can decide to give the ticket to fresh face," the leader added.

WIDE RANGE

A senior leader from the BJP said, “BJP has a wide range of options for reserved category candidates too. We received over 20 applications. The party high command would have chosen a candidate but we have a chance to analyse the political equations. We will suggest a few names.”