Gujarat polls: BTP founder Chhotu Vasava to file nomination from seat allotted to his son by tribal party

Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) founder and MLA Chhotu Vasava on Sunday said he will file the nomination for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election from Jhagadia seat, from where the party had earlier announced the candidature of his son Mahesh Vasava.

Ahmedabad: Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) founder and MLA Chhotu Vasava on Sunday said he will file the nomination for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election from Jhagadia seat, from where the party had earlier announced the candidature of his son Mahesh Vasava.
Chhotu Vasava could not be reached for comments after he made the announcement.

"Tomorrow (Nov 14) I am going to file the nomination for the election of 152 (seat number) Jhagadia Assembly constituency. All my workers should remain present at Jhagadia," the BTP founder posted on his Twitter handle without elaborating. Jhagadia seat in Narmada district is reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates.

As per a list of candidates recently released by the BTP for the December 1 and 5 state Assembly elections, Mahesh Vasava, the current president of the tribal party, has been fielded from Jhagadia. Mahesh Vasava had successfully contested the 2017 state Assembly election from Dediapada seat in Narmada district. This time, the BTP, which has pockets of influence in the adivasi-dominated areas of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Gujarat, has fielded Bahadursinh Vasava from the seat.

Chhotu Vasava had won from Jhagadia seat for seven consecutive terms. He was the Janata Dal (United) candidate for six terms till 2012 before contesting as the candidate of the BTP, which he floated that year. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BTP had won two out of three seats which it contested in alliance with the Congress. Chhotu Vasava had then won from Jhagadia, and his son from Dediapada.

The father-son duo had abstained from voting in the June 2020 Rajya Sabha election and in December that year announced breaking of ties with the Congress in two panchayat bodies in Narmada and Bharuch. In May this year, the BTP founder held a joint rally with the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Bharuch and entered into an alliance.

The alliance, however, did not work. The BTP has announced to contest all seats reserved for the ST category in the state and also other seats having sizable tribal population. Out of the total 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat, 27 are reserved for the ST candidates. (PTI)

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