BTP nominates two candidates for Gujarat

With its pre-poll alliance with the Congress not working out, the Chhotu Vasava-led Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) on Saturday nominated two of its candidates for the two constituencies in south Gujarat reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST).

BTP has fielded Uttam Somabhai Vasava from the Bardoli seat and Pankaj Lallubhai Patel from the Valid constituency. The party has decided to field seven candidates from the seven seats reserved for the tribals in Gujarat.

Chottu Vasava, the tribal strongman and MLA from Jhagadia who formed the BTP in 2017, was demanding seven seats from the Congress under the seat-sharing formula. However, the Congress was in no mood to share any of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state with any other party.

The BTP's move to nominate two of its candidates on Saturday also put an end to the speculation that the Congress was trying to woo the tribal strongman by offering him to contest from Bharuch on a Congress ticket.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had made a clean sweep in Gujarat by winning all the 26 seats.

--IANS

amc/arm