Bharatiya Tribal Party releases first list of 12 candidates in Gujarat, 9 from ST community

BTP, which contested its first election in 2017, currently has two MLAs–Chhotubhai and Mahesh–both of whom have not been featured as candidates yet. The party has fielded Mark Katara from Bhiloda, Mansukh Katara from Jhalod, Devendra Meda from Dahod, Furkan Rathwa from Sankheda, Sunil Gamit from Vyara, Samir Naik from Nizar, Nilesh Zambre from Dang, Suresh Patel from Dharampur and Mahesh Sarad Vasava from Nandod. All of these are candidates for the ST seats.

Apart from the nine seats, the party has also declared three candidates for the general seats of Karjan where Ghanshyam Vasava who is a tribal is being fielded. Similarly, in Olpad, it has fielded another tribal candidate Vijay Vasava and in Jambusar, it has fielded Manilal Pandya.

In 2017, the party contested six seats in a seat-sharing alliance with the Congress. Interestingly, the party is yet to declare candidates in these six seats.

Last month, the party announced it was parting ways with the Aam Aadmi Party after jointly participating in two election rallies in May and August. Following the break-up, the BTP has decided to contest the upcoming assembly polls on its own.