Gandhinagar, March 29: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed former minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja as the in-charge for the upcoming By-Election in the Umreth assembly constituency of Anand district, as political activities intensify ahead of the polls scheduled for next month.
In a letter issued on Sunday, the party announced Jadeja’s appointment, who is currently a special invitee member of the state and a former minister in the state government.
Hasmukh Patel, the former president of the Anand District Panchayat, has been appointed as the co-in-charge. These appointments are part of the party’s organizational preparations for the by-election.
The need for a by-election in Umreth arose following the demise of the sitting BJP MLA, Govind Parmar, earlier this month.
The Election Commission has scheduled voting for April 23 and counting of votes on May 4. The notification for the election will be issued on March 30, with nominations open until April 6.
Umreth, an unreserved seat among Gujarat’s 182 assembly constituencies, is part of the Anand Lok Sabha constituency. The constituency includes areas from the Umreth taluka and parts of the Anand taluka.
In the 2022 assembly elections, Parmar secured a victory for the BJP with a margin of over 26,000 votes, demonstrating the party’s stronghold in this seat.
Meanwhile, the Congress party has also initiated its candidate selection process by appointing observers to assess potential candidates. According to party leaders, four observers—Natvarsinh Mahida, Chandanji Thakor, Wazir Khan Pathan, and Jagat Shukla—have been tasked with listening to applicants and evaluating their suitability for contesting the elections.
These observers are meeting with candidates as part of the screening process, which is being conducted under the guidance of the state party leadership.
With over 240,000 registered voters and more than 300 polling stations expected to be set up, administrative preparations for the by-election are already underway in accordance with the Election Commission’s guidelines.
It is anticipated that the by-election will see a direct contest between the BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Ajit Pawar, with all parties ramping up their organizational and candidate selection efforts ahead of the polls.