Rajnath, Gadkari, Thackeray and Badal to accompany Amit Shah during filing of nomination

Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari and leaders of BJP's allies such as Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, SAD supremo Parkash Singh Badal and LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan will be present during party president Amit Shah's filing of nomination from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat on Saturday.

The presence of the top BJP-led NDA brass at the event is being seen by observers as a show of support for Shah and an acknowledgement of him being the second most powerful leader in the alliance after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shah is replacing BJP veteran L K Advani, who had been winning uninterrupted from Gandhinagar since 1998, from the prestigious constituency.

Leaders of BJP's allies and Union ministers, including Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, are scheduled to accompany Shah during filing of his nomination papers, BJP's Gujarat unit president Jitu Vaghani said on Friday.

All these leaders are likely to accompany him in a road-show in Ahmedabad on Saturday, before filing of the nomination.

Sharing the details about the event, Vaghani said the four-km road-show would start from Sardar Patel Statue in the Naranpura area of Ahmedabad and will culminate at Patidar Chowk in the Ghatlodia area.

Party workers would greet Shah by forming a human chain on the road in Gandhinagar, he said.

"Shah would also address people before starting his road-show in the presence of our two union ministers and NDA leaders Badal and Thackeray. Shah may land in Gujarat tonight and the road-show would begin at 9 am tomorrow," Vaghani said.

From Patidar Chowk, Shah would head to Gandhinagar in his car to file his nomination papers.

Shah, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, has been nominated by the BJP for the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat.

Last date for filing nominations is April 4. Polling for all the 26 seats of Gujarat will take place on April 23.