The Returning Officer (RO) for the byelections, Chetan Pandya declared both the candidates from the saffron party as elected and handed them the certificates for the same in the Gujarat assembly premises on Monday.

 

Rambhai Mokariya, hailing from the Brahmin community, is an old warrior of the BJP based in Rajkot and is the CMD of Maruti Couriers. He was also a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) from 1974 and later joined the Jan Sangh in 1978. Since then, he's been with the BJP.

 

Dinesh Prajapati Anavadia hails from the Other Backward Communities (OBC) and is from the northern part of Gujarat, Deesa in Banaskantha. He heads the BJP Bakshipanch Morcha. He was also the former director of the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation and was the BJP Banaskantha district general secretary.

 

CR Patil, the Gujarat BJP Chief, has congratulated both the BJP candidates and wished them success in their political careers.

 

Rambhai Mokariya paid a courtesy visit to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and inquired about his health. The Gujarat CM thanked him and congratulated him and wished him success in his political career. He hoped that Mokariya will connect the welfare schemes by the Modi government to the beneficiaries.

 

The by-elections to the two vacant seats of the Rajya Sabha in Gujarat were scheduled on March 1. Till the last day of the filing of the nominations, the chief opposition party in Gujarat, the Congress did not field any candidate.

 

The last day of withdrawal of nominations was Monday, February 22. The Congress withdrew the nomination forms filed by the party's dummy candidates on Monday.

 

The Election Commission of India had decided to hold two separate by-elections in Gujarat to fill up vacancies owing to the corona deaths of Congress member Ahmed Patel and BJP member Abhay Bhardwaj, both succumbing to the pandemic in November end and December beginning last year.

 

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in 2017 and his term was to end on August 18, 2023. He died on November 25 last year.

 

Abhay Bhardwaj died on December 1 last year. Both the leaders succumbed to the pandemic. Bhardwaj had been elected in June 2020 and his term was to end in June 21, 2026.