Anand, March 16 (IANS) The Nationalist Congress Party has proposed the name of senior leader Jayant Patel “Boskey” as its candidate for the upcoming by-election to the Umreth Assembly constituency in Gujarat, party leaders confirmed on Monday.

Speaking to IANS, State NCP President Nikul Singh Tomar said the state leadership had recommended Patel’s name for the seat and forwarded it to the party’s central leadership for consideration.

“Jayant Patel Boskey’s name has been proposed as the candidate for the Umreth Assembly seat. We, from the state leadership, have sent the name,” Tomar added.

He said the final decision would be taken by the party’s Parliamentary board and was expected within the next few days.

“The final decision lies with the party’s Parliamentary board. The party board is expected to take a decision within two to three days,” he added.

Tomar described Patel as an experienced politician and said the NCP intended to contest the election under his guidance.

“He’s a two-time MLA. He has fought as a candidate in Assembly elections five times. He is a very seasoned leader and we are also going to fight under his guidance,” he said.

Tomar added that the NCP leadership was simultaneously working on preparations for upcoming local elections in the state.

“Along with this, the possible candidates for upcoming local body elections are likely to be finalised,” he said.

Confirming that the name had been recommended by the state NCP unit, Brijmohan Shrivastav, the party’s national general secretary and its representative to the Election Commission, said the proposal would be examined by the party’s central bodies before a final announcement.

“The state leadership has decided a name. The final decision will be taken by the parliamentary board and election committee. As of now, the name is just proposed, not final,” he told IANS.

Shrivastav also clarified the NCP’s position on alliances.

“Talking about the alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), we have an alliance with them nationally, that is for the Lok Sabha, and in Maharashtra. In any other state’s Assembly elections or local body elections, we don’t have an alliance,” he said.

The by-election to the Umreth Assembly seat was announced by the Election Commission on March 15 after the seat fell vacant following the death of BJP MLA Govind Parmar.

Patel and Parmar have faced each other in electoral contests in the Umreth Assembly constituency.

In the 2012 Assembly election, Patel, then contesting on a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ticket, defeated Parmar of the BJP by a narrow margin to win the seat.

In the 2017 election, Parmar won the Umreth seat, defeating Patel, who finished third behind both Parmar and the Congress candidate.

Polling for the Assembly constituency is scheduled to take place on April 23 as part of by-elections being held in several states across the country.

The counting of votes will be held on May 4.

Located in Anand district, the Umreth constituency has seen contests between multiple parties over the decades and remains politically significant in central Gujarat.

–IANS

mys/khz