BJP has stirred up a hornet’s nest! Despite the protests from across the state to change candidates, the party has decided not to change any more candidates. 

The demand is high for changing candidates in Sabarkantha, Junagadh, Amreli, and Valsad due to various reasons.  

A highly placed source close to the development stated that despite objections raised by candidates such as Purushottam Rupala for the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat and Shobhana Baraiya for the Sabarkantha seat, the BJP will maintain the same lineup of candidates across all 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat.

Amidst the rumours surrounding the change of names, the source reveals that not a single candidate of the Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat will be changed by the BJP and no ticket will be changed during this time.

The political spectacle that has been going on for a week regarding the Rajput Samaj issue by Purushottam Rupala, the BJP candidate from Rajkot, has today reached a point where the Rajput Samaj leaders are demanding the ticket change of Purushottam Rupala. 

Several media sources hinted that Bhupendra Patel and Parshottam Rupala have been called in Delhi and Rupala’s name may be dropped but Rupala clarified that no change has been made. 

Earlier due to some issues on Vadodara and Sabarkantha seats, both the candidates Ranjan Bhatt of Vadodara and Bhikhaji Thakor of Sabarkantha backed out of their candidature and were replaced by Dr Hemang Joshi and Shobhana Baraiya, respectively. 

As a result of internal opposition within the party organisation, a crucial meeting was convened at the chief minister level. During the meeting, the party sangthan was ordered that the candidate will not be changed and the current candidates will continue contesting the elections from their seats. In fact, they were told that it would be the responsibility of the party sangathan to make them a winner. 

While on the issue of Parshottam Rupala, after various agitations, complaints and debates, a conclusion has emerged that the BJP will not replace only Parshottam Rupala and not a single candidate in the 26 Lok Sabha seats of Gujarat, which is stated by the source.

The source further elaborated that the party conducted a thorough analysis of the situation, and they arrived at this decision subsequently. 

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in seven phases, with Gujarat scheduled to vote in the third phase on May 7, 2024. Accordingly, the notification for the election will be published on Apr 12, 2024, and the last date for filling out forms will be Apr 19, 2024.

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