After protests from local party workers, two BJP candidates — Vadodara MP Ranjanben Bhatt and Sabarkantha’s debutant candidate Bhikhaji Thakor — have opted out from the electoral race, citing “personal reasons”.
Their names were cleared by the BJP in the first list of candidates. On Saturday, they both announced on social media that they were unwilling to contest the Lok Sabha elections from their respective constituencies. According to party sources, there had been protests by local party workers against their candidacies.
Ms. Bhatt was being repeated by the party for the third time from Vadodara. She was first fielded in a bypoll in 2014 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi resigned as Vadodara MP after also winning the Varanasi seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. This time, however, after her ticket was announced by the party, a section of local workers was upset, and put up posters in several parts of the city, apart from taking to social media to vent their anger and frustration at the sitting parliamentarian.
