BJP fields ex-Cong MLA Alpesh Thakor in Gujarat bypoll

Former Congress MLAs, including Alpesh Thakor, were on Sunday named by the BJP as its candidates for bypolls in Gujarat as it announced names of its 38 nominees for assembly by-elections to be held across several states on October 21.

Thakor, who was elected on a Congress ticket in 2017 and resigned as MLA to join the BJP, will contest from Radhanpur, the seat he had won. Another Congress defector, Dhavalsinh Narendrasinh Zala, will contest from Bayad on BJP ticket.

The central election committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finalised the names, it said in a statement.

Of the 38 Assembly seats, 10 are in Uttar Pradesh, six in Gujarat, five in Kerala, four in Assam, two each in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Sikkim and one each in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.

Bypolls will be held for 51 Assembly seats on October 21, along with the state elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.

The BJP is likely to name the candidates for the remaining seats soon, it said.