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BJP's youngest candidate in Gujarat has ‘large shoes to fill’: ‘Seat once won by PM Modi’
Hemang Joshi, 33, is the BJP's candidate from Gujarat's Vadodara Lok Sabha seat.
Hemang Joshi, the ruling BJP's candidate from Gujarat's Vadodara Lok Sabha seat for the ongoing general elections, has said that he has “large shoes to fill," attributing this to the fact that one of the previous winners from the seat is none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At 33, Joshi is the BJP's youngest candidate from PM Modi's home state.
“I had not even dreamt of the ticket. It came as a matter of immense surprise for me. I did not even get a phone call that I was being considered as a candidate,” Joshi told PTI. He was picked after sitting BJP MP from Vadodara, Ranjan Bhatt, withdrew candidature despite being given ticket by the saffron party.
The former student leader then recalled being informed about his candidature, a day after Bhatt withdrew.
“Being a working couple, my wife and I get little time to go out together. We were attending a musical programme at Sursagar lake in the city on Holi when my name was announced. To give a person like me an opportunity to contest such a big election, and to offer all kinds of support, is overwhelming for me,” he said.
He also noted that his aim is to win by more than 10 lakh votes, as this is the target set by CR Paatil, the BJP's Gujarat unit chief. He further explained why the party “need not campaign” in Vadodara.
“The constituency has traditionally been a BJP stronghold. People cutting across class and caste lines have liked the BJP. Vadodara has also served as PM Modi's ‘karmabhumi’,” Joshi elaborated.
In the Lok Sabha polls, all 26 Gujarat constituencies will vote on May 7, the third leg of the seven-phase general elections. The BJP, which has been in power in the state since 1995, enjoyed a 100% success rate in the western state in both the 2014 and previous 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
