Gandhinagar (The Hawk): After being denied tickets by the saffron party, seven party leaders who filed nominations as independent candidates undertook disciplinary action and were suspended by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The seven candidates were all vying for seats in the Gujarat Assembly election's preliminary round.
According to a BJP statement citing the party's state president CR Paatil, "These MLAs have been suspended for six years for having engaged in anti-party actions."
Among the suspended BJP leaders is Harshad Vasava from Nandod in the Narmada district. Arvind Ladani, who was looking to purchase a ticket from Keshod Junagadh, has also been put on hold. In addition to Karan Bhai Baraiya, who was seeking a ticket from Amreli's Rajula, Chattrasingh Gunjaria from Dhangadra in Surendranagar, Ketan Bhai Patel from Paradi in Valsad, Bharat Bhai Chavda from rural Rajkot, Uday Bhai Shah from Veraval in Gir Somnath district, and Ketan Bhai Shah from Rajkot.
42 current MLAs have been rejected tickets by the BJP, which is running for its eighth term in office in Gujarat. 38 sitting MLAs were ousted by the saffron party after it declared its significant first chunk of 160 candidates. Several prominent members of the party, including former chief minister Vijay Rupani and deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, were refused seats.
The BJP won 99 of the 182 seats in the 2017 Gujarat elections. With Narendra Modi serving as the state's chief minister for the greatest period of time before being elected prime minister in 2014, the party has been in power for the past 27 years.
(Inputs from Agencies)