Gujarat Elections: BJP suspends 2 MLAs from Anand constituency for contesting as Independent candidates

The Bharatiya Janata Party has suspended two rebels from the Ananad constituency over  disciplinary action, for filing nominations as independent candidates after being denied tickets by the ruling party in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.B Pagi from Shahera in Panchmahal district, Dhawal Sinh Jhala from Aravalli district and Ram Sinh Thakor from Mehsana have also been suspended.The BJP, seeking its seventh term in office in Gujarat, has denied tickets to 42 sitting MLAs.This is the second list of rebels who have been suspended after the party suspended seven rebels on Sunday."These MLAs have been suspended for six years for having indulged in antiparty activities," a BJP communication reveals quoting state president C.R Paatil.

The party which announced its big first chunk of 160 candidates Saw 38 sitting MLAs being dropped. Later, the ruling party also announced three more lists of candidates for the remaining Assembly seats.Several party bigwigs, including former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, former deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and party chief Patil had expressed the desire not to contest the upcoming elections.In the 2017 Gujarat polls, the BJP was halted at 99 seats out of a total of 182 seats. The party has been in power for the last 27 years with Narendra Modi being the longest-serving chief minister of the state. Anand is constituency number 112 of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. It is one of the seven Assembly seats of Gujarat's Anand district apart from Khambhat, Borsad, Anklav, Umreth, Petlad and Sojitra. It is one of the seven Assembly seats that make up the Anand Lok Sabha constituency.