The BJP announced its candidates on Wednesday for the Porbandar, Panchamahal and Banaskantha parliamentary seats in Gujarat. The party has dropped all the three sitting MPs — Union Minister Haribhai Chaudhary, Vithal Radadia and Prabhatsinh Chauhan. Those who have been fielded are Ramesh Dhaduk from Porbandar, Ratansinh Rathod from Panchamahal and Parbatbhai Patel from Banaskantha. The party has so far announced 19 candidates in Gujarat. Five sitting parliamentarians, including party patriarch L.K. Advani, have been dropped. Seven more candidates have to be announced.
Mr. Radadia has been bed ridden, fighting cancer, for the last one year.
Mr. Dhaduk is contesting the election for the first time. He is a prominent builder in Surat and a seasoned cooperative sector leader in Gondal. Mr. Ratansinh won the 2017 Assembly polls from Lunawada as an Independent and subsequently joined the BJP. Banaskantha candidate Parbatbhai is a veteran leader and is currently a Minister in the Gujarat government.
