Ahmedabad, Feb 14 (PTI) Gujarat BJP leader Jashvantsinh Parmar termed his inclusion in the list of party nominees from the state for the Rajya Sabha elections a “pleasant surprise” and assured that he would raise issues affecting the public in Parliament’s Upper House.
Earlier, the BJP announced the names of the candidates for Gujarat’s four Rajya Sabha seats, fielding national party president JP Nadda while dropping Union ministers Parshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya who had won the 2018 election from the state.
Besides Nadda and Parmar, the BJP has also announced the names of diamond baron Govind Dholakia and BJP leader Mayank Nayak for the election to be held on February 27.
With a record 156 MLAs in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly belonging to the BJP, the ruling party is set to sweep all four seats unlike in 2018 when Congress sent two of the four candidates – Amee Yagnik and Naran Rathwa – to the Rajya Sabha.
Central ministers Rupala and Mandaviya are likely to be fielded for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Parmar called the inclusion of his name in the list a “pleasant surprise”. He said he would raise the issues affecting the public in the Rajya Sabha.
“I have been an active party worker. Even my parents were active party leaders. I had worked hard during the last election for our candidate to win with a big margin from Godhra,” he said. Parmar had contested the 2017 Assembly elections from Godhra as an independent and was defeated. He later joined the BJP.
Nayak is an OBC (Other Backward Caste) leader and currently serving as the president of the party’s OBC morcha. Known to be a dedicated party worker, he had also served as a BJP in-charge for Patan district.
“The party has given me all kinds of responsibilities. I will work as per the directions of Prime Minister Narendrabhai Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah for the people of Gujarat and the country,” he said.
Dholakia is the founder and chairman of Shree Ramkrishna Exports Private Limited, a Surat-based diamond manufacturing and exporting company based in Surat. He is known for his humanitarian activities.
The Election Commission had on January 29 released the date for the Rajya Sabha elections to 56 seats from 15 states. The elections will be held on February 27. PTI KA PD NR
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