Gujarat polls: BJP fields former MLA who jumped into river to save lives in Morbi incident

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has given a ticket to Kantilal Amrutiya, who jumped into the river to save the lives of people in the recent Morbi bridge tragedy, for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.
Amrutiya has been fielded from the Morbi constituency. BJP on Thursday released its first list of 160 candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election.
Addressing a joint press conference, Union Ministers Mansukh Mandviya, Bhupender Yadav and State BJP chief CR Paatil announced the names of the candidates.
"PM Narendra Modi has said that I am fighting to break my own record, the Bharatiya Janata Party will fulfill their intention, and they will win Gujarat with the maximum number of seats,"CR Paatil said.
Amrutiya, who was the former MLA from Morbi, jumped into the river after wearing a life tube without caring for his life.
Reportedly, he saved the lives of some people after a recent bridge collapse incident.
It is being told that earlier his name was not in the candidates' list but he got the reward for the courage he showed during the accident.
The current MLA of Morbi, Brijesh Merja, the cabinet minister in Gujarat has been dropped.
At least 135 people were killed after a British-era cable bridge collapsed on the Machchhu river in Morbi on October 30.
The mishap had also triggered a political storm with the Opposition parties targeting the ruling BJP over the tragic incident.
Hardik Patel, who was the former working president of Gujarat Congress and joined BJP in the month of June is also on the list of 160 candidates and will be contesting from Viramgam constituency. Patel spearheaded the Patidar reservation agitation in Gujarat in 2015.
Rivaba Jadeja, wife of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja has also been given a ticket by BJP from Jamnagar North Constituency.
Gujarat Chief Minister will be contesting from the Ghatlodia constituency while Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi will contest elections from the Majura constituency.
The BJP has announced the first list of candidates for 160 candidates out of the 182 constituencies.
The list of 160 candidates includes 14 females, 13 from scheduled caste, 24 from the scheduled tribe and there are 69 candidates who have been repeated.
"Every election there are changes, this time also new faces got the opportunity after aggressive discussions and booth survey we finalized this list we expect a good result in the upcoming election. BJP gives the opportunity to youth, women and the backwards class and is reflected in the list," said the BJP state president.
BJP is in power in the state for the last 27 years and is considered as BJP bastion.
The elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will occur on December 8, which coincides with Himachal Pradesh's result date.
While Congress is seeking to oust the BJP, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is also making efforts to put up a strong performance in the polls. (ANI)