Suspense over Gujarat’s Manjalpur seat ends, BJP’s Yogesh Patel in the run for his 8th term

Yogesh Patel's candidature came as a surprise to many city leaders of the party and a jolt to the hopefuls since the party has followed its principles of choosing candidates under 75 years of age in most seats.

BJP MLA from Manjalpur Yogesh Patel.

The suspense over who the BJP candidate from the Manjalpur Assembly Constituency in Gujarat’s Vadodara city ended Thursday morning after sitting MLA Yogesh Patel confirmed his nomination. Patel said he had received a phone call from BJP Gujarat unit President C R Paatil to proceed with his nomination for an eighth term.

As soon as it became official that Patel, 77, would re-contest the polls, his supporters celebrated by bursting crackers outside the Leuva Sheri lane in Raopura, where he lives.

Patel’s candidature came as a surprise to many city leaders of the party and a jolt to the hopefuls since the party has followed its principles of choosing candidates under 75 years of age in most seats. A leader of Vadodara’s city unit said, “The candidature is indeed a surprise. We were expecting Kaka (Yogesh Patel) to be rested as the party is very particular about its recent rules regarding ticket allocation including age, tenures, and also family links with other elected representatives or office bearers.”

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“Especially, when Rajubhai (Rajendra Trivedi) was dropped, as it was being speculated for days, it became even more certain that Kaka would be rested and a new face would be given a chance. He was not even in the reckoning nor was his candidature actually proposed at all by the Parliamentary board. But it seems, he was working behind the scenes and had his way,” added the leader.

Known to be a leader who speaks his mind, often ignoring the party’s line on certain issues, Patel has always had clout with those heading the government. No Gujarat chief minister, so far, has ignored his invitation to perform the maha aarti for his famous annual Shivratri Yatras in Vadodara, which is held in February every year.

Patel, a Leuva Patidar, is also a close aide of BJP leader Maneka Gandhi and has been part of her core team during election campaigns for several years. However, party leaders in the city say that this time, Patel himself has been on “direct dialling” with top leaders of the party, and has managed to tip many other Patidar contenders from the seat.

The Gujarat Assembly elections will be held on December 1 and 5 and the votes will be counted on December 8.

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