GANDHINAGAR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah met cricketer Ravindra Jadeja and his wife Rivaba Jadeja at Jamnagar airport. Rivaba Jadeja is contesting in the Gujarat Elections as a BJP candidate from Jamnagar North. She was named as a BJP candidate for the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat on November 10. Ravindra took to Twitter to congratulate his wife and wrote, "so proud of all the effort and hardwork which you have put in". 



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"My best wishes to you, may you continue to work for the development of the society," Jadeja, who missed out on the ongoing 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 opportunity to do noble work," he added.


Rivaba Jadeja, who is a mechanical engineer by education, has been fielded from Jamnagar North.


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.


The BJP released its first list of 160 candidates for the two-phase elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, fielding Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel from his constituency Ghatlodia and dropping a large number of sitting MLAs.


Hardik Patel, the face of Patidar agitation in the 2017 assembly polls who later quit the Congress to join the BJP, also figured on the list. Patel will contest from Viramgam.


Releasing the list, Union minister Bhupendra Yadav said the BJP has changed as many as 38 sitting members, claiming that most replacements have been made with the consent of the incumbents.


The party named its candidates for 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.


Union ministers Yadav and Mansukh Mandaviya were joined by Gujarat BJP president CR Patil at a press conference here as Yadav named the candidates selected by the party's Central Election Committee at its meeting.


Yadav said the list includes 69 sitting MLAs besides 14 women, and 13 and 24 members from the Schedules Castes and Schedules Tribes respectively.


(With agency inputs)