Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is likely to contest the Lok Sabha election from a seat in Gujarat also, said the party's Gujarat unit on 18 March. The party has already declared that Modi will contest from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
BJP's Central Election Committee is likely to decide shortly on Modi's second constituency in Gujarat to contest the general elections.
The Gujarat Chief Minister's election to the Lok Sabha is a question of the state's prestige, says BJP's Gujarat unit. Hence, the party wants Modi to contest from a seat either from Ahmedabad or Surat. According to the party's Gujarat unit general secretary Vijay Rupani, they have recommended party patriach LK Advani to contest from the Gandhi Nagar seat, which he is presently representing the lower house of India.
Gujarat is to vote on 30 April to the Lok Sabha.
BJP is to announce the next list of candidates on 19 March and, from the list, it will become clear from which constituency in Gujarat Modi will contest the election. Party sources say the BJP prime ministerial candidate may contest from Ahmedabad constituency, while the party workers are also urging Modi to contest the polls from Baroda (Vadodara) and Surat.
It can be recalled that to pave way for Modi to contest the Lok Sabha, Murli Manohar Joshi, senior BJP leader and incumbent member of Parliament from Varanasi, has been shifted to Kanpur constituency in UP. It is reported that Joshi was reluctant to leave the Varanasi seat for Modi and some of his supporters had even reportedly clashed with Modi backers in Varanasi.
BJP president Rajnath Singh will contest from Lucknow, Maneka Gandhi from Pilibhit and her son Varun Gandhi from Sultanpur. Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti is to contest from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.
Actor Shatrughan Sinha, another prominent personality of BJP, is to contest from the Patna Sahib seat, say media reports.
