Gandhinagar, June 2 (IANS) Congress party on Monday declared Nitin Ranpariya as its candidate for Visavadar by-election in Gujarat, setting the stage for three-cornered contest in both constituencies of the state heading to by-elections, this month.

“Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approved the candidature of Nitin Ranpariya as Congress candidate for the upcoming Assembly by-election to Visavadar constituency,” the party said in an official release.

Nitin Ranpariya is the president of Visavadar Youth Congress. The announcement of his candidature comes on the last day of filing nominations.

In the upcoming by-elections for five seats in four states, two constituencies of Gujarat – Kadi and Visavadar will see polling on June 19.

BJP has already nominated candidates in both seats, Rajendra Chavda from Kadi and Kirit Patel from Visavadar.

The electoral fray for Visavadar seat is set to get interesting as BJP’s Kirit Patel and Aam Aadmi Party’s Gopal Italia are the other contesting candidates.

Gopal Italia is former Gujarat AAP president and a well-known face in state politics while BJP’s Kirit Patel is also former district president of the party.

The by-election in Kadi was necessitated due to the demise of sitting BJP MLA Karshan Solanki in February, this year. He was a prominent Scheduled Caste leader in the region and had held the seat since 2017.

In Visavadar, the need for by-elections arose because of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Bhupendra Bhayani quitting his post in December 2023 and subsequently switching over to BJP.

Both the constituencies of Gujarat are likely to see high-voltage contest, with parties launching a high-pitched campaign in the coming days. The elections will be closely watched as they will give a fair indication of either shifting political ground or BJP’s further consolidation in the state, ahead of bigger poll battles in the state.

Voting for by-elections to both the assemblies will be held on June 19. The results of the by-elections will be declared on June 23.

–IANS

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