Gujarat: Nitin Patel withdraws from the Mehsana seat contest

Former Deputy Chief Minister and prominent party figure Nitin Patel has dropped his bid to run for the Mehsana Lok Sabha seat, raising concerns inside the Gujarat BJP about the identities of the candidates in the 11 open Lok Sabha seats. Nitin Patel has previously registered and then withdrawn his candidacies; in the 2022 assembly elections, Patel originally sought to be an MLA and then did the same.

Patel is a prominent member of the Patidar community in Gujarat. But in Gujarati politics, the act of submitting a nomination twice and then withdrawing it has sparked rumors.

Patel said on Sunday that he was withdrawing his candidacy for the Lok Sabha seat from Mehsana. The BJP has not yet formally announced the candidate from Mehsana, but he did not defend his choice, which he shared on social media.

He announced his bid for the Mehsana seat on social media and pleaded with the party to nominate him. Sources, however, assert that Patel withdrew his candidacy after being notified beforehand by Delhi High Command in order to prevent any negative publicity.