Guj RS bypolls: Two BJP nominees expected to win unopposed

BJP candidates on Thursdayfiled nominations for bypolls to two Rajya Sabha seats inGujarat and are expected to be declared winners as theCongress did not field any candidate, an official said.

Thursday was the last day for filing nominations.

As the main opposition party in the state did notfield any candidate, two BJP candidates are expected to bedeclared winners in the elections scheduled for March 1,returning officer C B Pandya said.

''BJP's Dinesh Anavadiya and Ram Mokariya and their twodummy candidates submitted their papers. We have not receivedany nominations from Congress,'' he said.

In this situation, voting will not be necessary as thedummy candidates are expected to withdraw, Pandya said.

The last date for withdrawing nominations is February22.

Anavadiya is the state BJP's OBC Morcha president,while Mokariya runs a courier company.

The byelections were necessitated by the death ofCongress veteran Ahmed Patel in November and BJP leader AbhayBhardwaj in December last year.

The Rajya Sabha terms of Patel and Bhardwaj were toend in August 2023 and June 2026.

Anavadiya has been chosen by the BJP to fill upPatel's seat, while Mokariya will replace Bhardwaj.

The BJP and Congress have 111 and 65 MLAs in theGujarat Legislative Assembly, respectively.

The Congress did not have the numbers to win even oneseat as voting was to be conducted separately for the twoseats.