Ahmedabad, Nov 25: Virtually giving the boot to its senior leader Haren Pandya, the BJP today nominated Bhavin Sheth in his place for the Ellisbridge constituency who filed his papers along with chief minister Narendra Modi and his Congress challenger Yatin Ozha on the last day of nominations for the December 12 Gujarat Assembly elections.

At least 100 candidates filed their nominations today in a last-minute rush to beat the deadline taking the total number of candidates for the 182-member state assembly to over 700. The BJP announced the candidature of Sheth, a local corporator, for the Ellisbridge seat a day after Pandya, a known Modi critic, opted out of the race for the constituency apparently peeved at the party high command keeping his re-nomination on tenterhooks till the eleventh hour.
Congress put up Pradeepbhai Kantilal Ruwala to take on Sheth in Ellisbridge.
The nomination of Sheth completes the BJP`s line-up of candidates for all the 182 seats. The Congress, on the other hand, is contesting all but one which it has left for CPI.



Bureau Report