Gujarat polls: She wants to follow path of PM Modi, says Jadeja as wife Rivaba files nomination

Ravindra Jadeja's wife Rivaba has been fielded by BJP from the Jamnagar North seat in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.

New Delhi: Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja on Monday (November 14, 2022) said that his wife Rivaba Jadeja, who has been fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Jamnagar seat in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections, wanted to follow the path of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to work for the people. Team India all-rounder, who was speaking at an event in Jamnagar, also said that Rivaba would learn a lot from her first-time candidature in the ensuing Assembly polls.

"It is her (Rivaba Jadeja) first time as an MLA candidate and she will learn a lot. I hope she will progress in this. She is of helping nature and has always wanted to help people and hence joined politics. She wants to follow the path of PM Modi to work for the people," the cricketer said.

It's her (Rivaba Jadeja) first time as an MLA candidate & she'll learn a lot. I hope she will progress in this. She is of helping nature and has always wanted to help people and hence joined politics. She wants to follow the path of PM Modi to work for the people: Ravindra Jadeja pic.twitter.com/cO3t3ihNMi — ANI (@ANI) November 14, 2022

Rivaba Jadeja, who is a mechanical engineer by education, has been fielded from the Jamnagar North Assembly constituency. She has replaced sitting MLA Dharmendrasinh Jadeja as the BJP face for the seat.

Earlier last week, Ravindra Jadeja thanked PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah after his wife Rivaba was named as a BJP candidate. He took to his official Twitter account and congratulated Rivaba and said that he is "so proud of all the effort and hard work which you have put in". 

"My best wishes to you, may you continue to work for the development of the society," Jadeja, who missed out on the T20 World Cup in Australia due to a knee injury, wrote for his wife.

"I also wish to thank our honourable PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji and Shri Amit Shah Ji for believing in her abilities and giving her the opportunity to do noble work," he added.

Jai hind  pic.twitter.com/JWdbV0brab — Ravindrasinh jadeja (@imjadeja) November 10, 2022

On Sunday, he had also urged the people of Jamnagar to vote for his wife Rivaba. He tweeted a video urging the people of Jamnagar and cricket fans to vote for his wife.

"The Gujarat election is here and it's like a T20 match. My wife is making her grand debut in politics on a BJP ticket! Tomorrow she will file her nomination. I appeal to the people of Jamnagar and all the cricket lovers to come in large numbers to support her," Jadeja said in the video in which he was speaking in Gujarati.

જામનગર ના મારા તમામ મિત્રો ને મારુ દીલ થી આમંત્રણ છે. જય માતાજી pic.twitter.com/olZxvYVr3t — Ravindrasinh jadeja (@imjadeja) November 13, 2022

Last week, on the BJP giving a ticket to Rivaba, its state unit president CR Patil said that she has been "actively working" for the party.

"Rivaba has been actively working for the party in that constituency and all tickets have been given on the basis of winnability," he said.

Gujarat Assembly elections 2022: BJP releases 3rd list of candidates

Meanwhile, the saffron party has released its third list of 12 candidates for the next month's Gujarat Assembly elections in which it has fielded OBC community leader Alpesh Thakor from Gandhinagar South seat instead of Radhanpur in North Gujarat from where he had lost a bypoll.

Alpesh Thakor had won from the Radhanpur Assembly seat in 2017 on a Congress ticket, but resigned in 2019 as an MLA and joined the BJP. In the subsequent bypoll, he lost to the Congress from Radhanpur.

The BJP has now fielded him from Gandhinagar South. The latest list includes two women, taking the number of female candidates fielded by the BJP to 17 so far. The saffron outfit has fielded Ritaben Patel from Gandhinagar North and Rajul Desai from Patan.

In Jhalod, where sitting Congress MLA Bhavesh Katara crossed over to the BJP last week, the ruling party has fielded Mahesh Bhuriya.

The party has fielded another Thakor community member, Bakaji Thakor, from Kalol in Gandhinagar district, a move seen as the saffron outfit wooing the influential OBC group.

The BJP has also given a ticket to its Vadodara mayor Keyur Roakadia, in place of sitting MLA Jitendra Sukhadia, from the Sayajigunj Assembly segment. Sukhadia has decided not to fight the 2022 elections due to health issues.

It has fielded Babu Singh Jhadav from Vatva in place of senior leader Pradeepsinh Jadeja, who was a minister in the erstwhile Vijay Rupani government, and Jayantibhai Rathwa from Jetpur (ST) where he will take on Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly Sukhram Rathwa of the Congress.

ગુજરાત વિધાનસભા ચૂંટણી 2022 માટે જાહેર થયેલા તમામ ઉમેદવારોને ખૂબ ખૂબ અભિનંદન અને શુભકામનાઓ... #ભરોસાની_ભાજપ_સરકાર#કમળ_ખીલશે_ગુજરાત_જીતશે#આ_ગુજરાત_મેં_બનાવ્યું_છે#ભાજપ_આવે_છે pic.twitter.com/kgVxrn44md — BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) November 14, 2022

With the third list, the BJP has so far declared 178 candidates for the two-phase polls to the 182-member Assembly.

The Assembly elections in Gujarat will take place in two phases -- December 1 and December 5, and the counting will take place on December 8.

The ruling party, which has been in power in Gujarat for the last 27 years, is seeking its seventh straight term in the ensuing state polls. It, however, faces a stiff electoral challenge from the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has named Isudan Gadhvi as its chief ministerial candidate. The Congress is also hoping to put its best electoral foot forward to unseat the BJP government.

(With agency inputs)