Ahmedabad/Gandhinagar, March 30 A political exchange has surfaced ahead of the Umreth Assembly by-election in Gujarat, with the Congress questioning the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its candidate selection and raising the issue of dynastic politics.
On Monday, the BJP selected Harshad Parmar, son of former BJP MLA Govind Parmar, for the upcoming by-election.
Reacting to the development, Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar criticised the BJP’s stance on “parivarvaad”, saying, “I want to tell the BJP that some of its senior leaders make allegations against the Congress of dynastic politics. Who have you given the ticket to in Umreth? Does that not count as parivarvaad?”
He said the Congress had initiated its internal process to finalise a candidate for the by-election.
“For the Umreth Assembly seat, the Congress party has appointed observers, and within one to two days the report will be submitted to the state Congress president,” he said, referring to Amit Chavda.
“Soon, we are going to release the candidate's name.”
Separately, the BJP defended its candidate for the by-poll.
Party chief spokesperson Dr Anil Patel said, “Harshad Parmar, 38, is our candidate for the Umreth Assembly seat by-election. He is a hardworking worker and a prominent leader there who has taken part in the political journey of his father.”
He added, “The BJP and late Govind Parmar are getting immense public support there,” and said the party was confident of victory.
“The BJP will win with more than 26,000 votes difference in the by-election because of Govind Parmar’s works and the state government’s developmental approach,” he said.
The by-election to the Umreth seat in Anand district has been necessitated following the death of sitting MLA Govind Parmar.
The constituency has witnessed electoral contests between the BJP and the Congress in recent years, and the upcoming poll is being closely watched in the region.
--IANS
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