The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday released its fourth list of 12 candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections. The party has ensured that tickets are given to people from a cross-section of society, including teachers, businesspersons and tribals. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party had earlier announced 29 candidates for the Gujarat Assembly polls. With Thursday’s list, AAP, which wants to contest on all the 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat, has announced 41 candidates so far.
The fourth list of candidates covers 12 seats, two of which are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) (Garbada and Gandevi). Two out of these 12 seats were won by the Congress in 2017, while ten were bagged by the BJP. Two of these dozen seats –Amraiwadi and Vatva — are in Ahmedabad city, while one – Limbayat – is in Surat city.
The candidate list includes Nirmalsinh Parmar for Himatnagar seat, who is a retired teacher, while Doulat Patel for Gandhinagar (South) is a businessman. Kuldeep Vaghela (Sanand seat) is an industrialist, Bipil Patel (Vatva) runs a garments shop and Bharat Patel (Amraiwadi) is an AAP worker who has contested corporation election in the past, AAP’s Gopal Italia told reporters.
Among other candidates, Ramjibhai Chudasama (Keshod) is a leader from the Koli community who was in the past associated with the Congress. Natwarsinh Rathod (Thasra, Kheda district) has worked as a district panchayat member, while Takhatsinh Solanki (Shehra, Panchmahal district) is a popular leader in the region, Italia said.
Dinesh Baria (Kalol, Panchmahal district) is an arts teacher, while Shailesh Bhabhor (Garbada) is an AAP worker. Pankaj Tayde (Limbayat, Surat) is a businessman and social worker, while Pankaj Patel (Gandevi) is a young tribal leader, the AAP leader said.
Kejriwal has been aggressively campaigning in the state, holding rallies and town halls and making a host of pre-poll “guarantees”, including free electricity and better education and healthcare facilities, to woo voters.
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