With scrutiny of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections and five Assembly bypolls in Gujarat coming to a close, a clear picture has emerged in the state that goes to polls in the third phase on May 7. According to the final list released by the Election Commission on Monday, 266 and 24 candidates are in the fray for the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly bypolls respectively. Between April 12 and April 19, 433 candidates filed their nominations for the Lok Sabha elections, while 37 candidates were in the race for the bye-elections. At the end of verification of nomination papers conducted by the election officials on April 20 and 21, 328 candidates for Lok Sabha elections and 27 nominees for Assembly bye-elections were approved. Monday was the last date of withdrawal of nominations by the candidates. With the cancellation of Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani's nomination papers Sunday and withdrawal of nominations by eight candidates from other parties and independents a day later, BJP's Mukesh Dalal has been declared unopposed winner from the Surat Lok Sabha seat. In Panchmahal, the BSP candidate opted out of the Lok Sabha race and extended support to the BJP. In the Waghodia Assembly seat, independent candidate and former MLA Madhu Shrivastav withdrew his nominations and extended support to the Congress. At 18, the highest number of candidates are in the fray from Ahmedabad East Lok Sabha constituency, while Bardoli, a seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes, has the least — three candidates. In addition to the BJP and Congress candidates and eight independents, eight candidates from parties such as BSP, Gunj Satya Ni Janata Party, Bhartiya Jan Parishad, Swaraj Kranti Party, Youth India Peace Party, Prajatantra Aadhar Party, Swatantrata Abhivyakti Party and Aadi Bharat Party are in the contest for Ahmedabad East. On the other hand, the three candidates in the race for the Bardoli seat include BJP's Parbhubhai Vasava Siddharth Chaudhary from the Congress and BSP's Rekhaben Chaudhari. With eight candidates, Vijapur seat has the highest number of contestants for the bye-elections, while only two — the least — are fighting from Vadodara's Waghodia constituency. Former six-term MLA Shrivastav, who had filed his nomination as an independent for the Waghodia bypolls, withdrew his nomination in support of Congress candidate Kanu Gohil. He said he has decided to "put all his energy" to ensure the win of the Congress's Kshatriya candidate in "support" to the ongoing agitation by the community in the state. Shrivastav was accompanied by Congress candidate Kanu Gohil as he withdrew his nomination papers Monday. He said the decision was taken after "discussing with the Kshatriya community" of Waghodia. "There was a meeting with the Kshatriya community over the ongoing protests a day earlier. They have decided to unite across Gujarat (against the BJP). So, I have decided to withdraw my candidature because Kanu Gohil is a Kshatriya leader and he has been working for the people for a long time. I am supporting the Congress in Waghodia and even in the Vadodara Lok Sabha (seat), where the Congress has fielded another Kshatriya leader, Jaspalsinh Padhiyar," Shrivastav said. The BJP has fielded Dharmendrasinh Vaghela who resigned in January as an independent MLA to join the party. Shrivastav, who was suspended from the BJP for contesting as an independent from Waghodia in the 2022 Assembly polls, also appealed to the people of the constituency to vote for the Congress. "In the coming days, I am going to put my efforts into the campaign for the Congress. It is my appeal to the people of Waghodia that if they feel I have worked tirelessly for all communities without any discrimination in my six terms, they should vote for the Congress candidate who will work for the people," he said. In Panchmahal Lok Sabha constituency, BSP leader Shailesh Thakar, who had filed his nomination as an independent candidate from the seat, withdrew his candidature in the presence of Godhra MLA CK Raulji and former Gujarat Deputy Speaker and Sehra MLA Jetha Ahir. "I had a fruitful discussion with CK Raulji and Jetha Ahir about the development works and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also working on preserving the sanatan dharma. In the best interest of the country, I have decided to withdraw my candidature and extend support to the BJP candidate," Thakar said on his decision to withdraw his nomination and support BJP's Rajpalsinh Jadav. Raulji, who accompanied Thakar, said, "We made him understand that (Narendra) Modiji is working round-the-clock for the development of the country and also working for the preservation of Indian culture. He (Thakar) has voluntarily withdrawn his nomination today". With eight candidates in the fray, the Panchmahal Lok Sabha seat is touted for a close contest between Jadav and Lunawada Congress MLA Gulabsinh Chauhan. "We had accepted 10 nomination forms after scrutiny, of whom, two withdrew their candidature. We now have eight contestants — two candidates from recognised national parties, two candidates from registered unrecognised parties and four independents," said Panchmahal District Election Officer Ashish Kumar.
