Gujarat Elections: Hardik Patel, Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja’s Wife Get BJP ticket

Gandhinagar: The BJP has picked Rivaba Jadeja, the wife of Ravindra Jadeja, to contest from Jamnagar North in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly.

She featured in the first list of 160 candidates, which the saffron party released on Thursday, for the two-phase election. It included 84 of the 89 seats, which will go to the polls in the first phase on December 1, and 76 of 93 candidates going to the polls in the second phase on December 5.

Rivaba, who did Mechanical Engineering at the Atmiya Institute of Technology and Science in Gujarat’s Rajkot, joined the BJP in 2019. She has been building support by touring villages for months, reports said.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will be contesting the elections from Ghatlodiya constituency, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav. The BJP has nominated 17 turncoats, including Congress import Hardik Patel from Viramgram.

Surprisingly, 11 sitting MLAs from Ahmedabad city and all four from Rajkot city have been denied tickets.

In Morbi, where a bridge collapse killed over 130 people two weeks ago, former MLA of Morbi Kantilal Amrutia, who reportedly jumped into the river to save some victims, has been given the ticket.

While the saffron party is seeking a sixth term, the election is likely to witness a three-way contest with AAP running a high-decibel campaign to become an alternative to the Congress and BJP.