BJP MP Ranjan Bhatt withdraws candidacy from Vadodara seat
Two-time BJP MP Ranjan Bbhatt in a brief post on X on Saturday announced that she has chosen not to contest in the Lok Sabha election from Vadodra due to personal reasons
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) sitting MP Ranjan Bhatt, who was fielded by the party to contest for the third time from the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat, announced in a post on X on Saturday that she has decided to withdraw her candidacy for the upcoming elections due to personal reasons.
A BJP official, who did not wish to be named, has confirmed Bhatt’s decision to withdraw her candidature.
The decision by Bhatt, a two-time MP, comes within days after a poster campaign erupted over her nomination in Vadodara with some of them suggesting a lack of interest from Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel and Gujarat BJP chief C R Patil towards the city.
The posters had said, “Modi tere se ber nahin, Ranjan teri kher nahi (roughly translated as “Modi, we don’t have any differences with you, but Ranjan, we will not spare you”) and “Will the BJP, so high on success, put up anybody as a candidate?”.
The poster campaign came soon after BJP MLA from Savli seat in Vadodara district put out his resignation letter on social media after sending it by email to Assembly speaker Shankar Chaudhary. He later withdrew his resignation after meeting BJP Gujarat chief C R Patil.
Bhatt initially secured the seat in 2014 during a by-election following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to represent Varanasi as an MP. She successfully retained the seat in the 2019 election.
Earlier this week, Congress candidate Rohan Gupta withdrew his candidature from the Ahmedabad East seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. On Friday, the national spokesperson and former social media head of the Congress party, announced his resignation from all party positions, citing “constant humiliation” and “character assassination” by a senior leader connected with the party’s communication department.
On March 14, the BJP suspended Dr. Jyotiben Pandya, the vice president of its national women’s wing, from all positions within the party. The suspension came a day after the ruling party announced its candidates for several Lok Sabha seats, including Vadodara.
In a press statement, BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave stated, “On the instruction of BJP central leadership, state BJP president C R Paatil has suspended vice-president of national women wing Dr. Jyotiben Pandya from all posts and primary membership of the party.” The statement did not give any reason behind her removal.
“I have no issue with the party leadership or its ideology, but I fail to comprehend why the party has chosen to nominate her (Ranjan Bhatt) for the third time,” Pandya, a former mayor of Vadodara told media persons on March 14 after her suspension.
Pandya had questioned the MP’s contributions to Vadodara’s development while expressing her aspiration for the Lok Sabha ticket from the city, citing the significant progress observed in Ahmedabad and Surat and underscoring her years of dedicated service to the party.
The BJP won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat in 2014 and 2019 elections. The party has announced 22 candidates so far for the upcoming 2024 elections. The Congress has announced seven candidates of whom one has withdrawn his candidacy. The Aam Aadmi Party has decided to field two candidates from Gujarat for the Lok Sabha elections. The polls in Gujarat will be held on May 7.