Gujarat Election 2022: No ticket to 10 ex-Cong leaders who joined BJP

The Congress leaders had joined the BJP to get tickets but with the nominations coming to an end and the name of these leaders nowhere in the list, they have been left disappointed.

Ahmedabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has given a raw deal to over ten leaders by not giving tickets to them despite their having left the Congress to join the saffron party ahead of the Gujarat assembly election, sources said. After deserting the Congress, these leaders were looking forward to the BJP to get tickets but with the nominations coming to an end and the name of these leaders nowhere in the list, they have been left disappointed.

These hapless leaders are Jairaj Singh Parmar, Himanshu Vyas, Dinesh Sharma, Kewal Anil Joshira, Somabhai Gandabhai Patel, Dhawal Singh Jhala, Amitbhai Chowdhary, Hakubha Jadeja, Brijesh Merja and Parsottam Sabaria. The BJP and Congress have declared 182 candidates for the assembly election scheduled in two phases on December 1 and 5.

Congress spokesperson Jairajsinh Parmar joined the BJP in the hope to contest from the Kheralu seat. Likewise, Himanshu Vyas sought candidature for Vadwan seat while Dinesh Sharma, who was the leader of the opposition in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation from the Congress was looking forward to contest from the Bapunagar seat.

But the BJP has let them down at the last minute. After the death of Anish Joshiri, his sons joined BJP to get tickets, but to no avail. Surendranagar MLA Soma Ganda also succumbed to the same temptation and resigned from Congress. Former MLAs Dhavalsingh Jhala and Amit Chaudhary Baid too were denied tickets.

Hakubha was also not given a ticket due to which he was upset after which he has been made in-charge of three seats - Jamnagar North, Jamnagar South and Jamnagar Rural Assembly seats. Brijesh Merja and Parsottam Sabaria too have been denied tickets. On the other hand, Mohan Rathwa left the Congress two days ago to join the BJP and his son Rajendrasinh Rathwa got the ticket from Chhotaudepur.

the BJP has also given tickets to Bhagwan Brar, Jawahar Chavda, Raghavji Patel, Kunvarji Bavaliya, Pradyuman Singh Jadeja, JV Kakadia, Akshay Patel, Jeetu Chowdhary and Ashwin Kotwal. In 2014, BJP had given tickets to seven candidates including veteran Congress leaders like Vithal Radadiya and Leeladhar Vaghela due to which most of the Congress candidates lost in the Lok Sabha elections.