They claim that local BJP politicians, and, in some cases, the Gujarat Police pushed them to exit the contest. One remains in the fray.
By Ayush Tiwari
As Bharatiya Janata Party won the Surat Lok Sabha uncontested on April 21, a video from Gandhinagar surfaced on social media that evening. It showed a sobbing Jitendra Chauhan, 39, complaining that he was being forced to withdraw his candidature from Gujarat’s Gandhinagar parliamentary constituency by “Amit Shah’s people” who had “hijacked” him.
“It is possible that I will be killed,” Chauhan said. “I appeal to my countrymen: save this nation; it is in danger.”
The following day, Chauhan withdrew his nomination. “I withdrew because there was pressure on me,” Chauhan told Scroll. “It came from Dinesh Singh Kushwah, the BJP MLA from Bapunagar in Ahmedabad.”
Gandhinagar is a BJP citadel. The party has won the Lok Sabha seat since 1989. In 2019, Shah’s victory margin was more than 5.5 lakh votes.
In the ongoing elections, the party reportedly has a target of sweeping Gujarat’s 26 seats with a margin of more than 5 lakh votes. Shah is contesting from the state capital this time too. The constituency will vote in the third phase on May 7.
This story was originally published in scroll.in. Read the full story here.