Hours before Gujarat votes in the first phase on Thursday, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja shared an old video of Balasaheb Thackeray saying Gujarat will end if Narendra Modi is not there. "Abhi bhi time hai samaj jao gujaratiyo," Jadeja tweeted as his wife Rivaba Jadeja contests from North Jamnagar seat in her election debut. Rivaba joined the BJP in 2019.
In the video, Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray can be seen saying, "I have only this much to say that if Narendra Modi is not there, Gujarat is nothing."
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Rivaba is one of the 788 candidates who are in the fray in the 89 seats of the 182-seat Gujarat assembly that are going to the polls. In 2017, BJP's Dharmendrasinh Jadeja won the election. This time, he was denied a ticket in favour of Rivaba Jadeja.
{{/usCountry}}Rivaba is one of the 788 candidates who are in the fray in the 89 seats of the 182-seat Gujarat assembly that are going to the polls. In 2017, BJP's Dharmendrasinh Jadeja won the election. This time, he was denied a ticket in favour of Rivaba Jadeja.
{{/usCountry}}Rivaba's father-in-law and sister-in-law, however, campaigned for the Congress candidate. Her sister-in-law Naynaba Jadeja belongs to the Congress. Ahead of the election, Rivaba clarified that there is no difference in the family and it's only a matter of ideology. "It is not the first time that two members of a party are associated with two different ideologies. He is speaking as a worker of another party and not as my father-in-law. It is his personal matter. I believe in the people of Jamnagar. Jamnagar has given us numerous things. My husband was born here, he started his career here," Rivaba said.
Ravindra Jadeja campaigned for Rivaba and met Narendra Modi.
About Jamnagar North constituency:
The constituency voted for the first time in 2012 after it was formed following delimitation. Congress's Dharmendrasinh Jadeja won the election from the constituency in 2012 but in the next election, he switched to the BJP. BJP dropped Dhramendrasinh in favour of Rivaba Jadeja but Dharmendrasinh was made the party's in-charge for polling in three seats, including Jamnagar North.