New Delhi: BJP on Wednesday decided to field LK Advani from his Gandhinagar constituency in Gujarat, overruling his desire to shift to Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, himself will contest from a second seat – Vadodara in Gujarat – apart from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
It was not clear whether Advani had consented to the party decision. Late night, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari went to his residence in a bid to persuade him to accept Gandhinagar.
Advani had insisted that he should have the right to choose his constituency like many other leaders who have been allocated their preferred seats, sources said.
Advani has represented Gandhinagar in the 10th Lok Sabha (1991-96), 12th Lok Sabha (1998-99), 13th Lok Sabha (1999-2004), 14th Lok Sabha (2004-09) and the current 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14).
The list of 60 candidates finalized by the party on Wednesday includes yesteryear dreamgirl Hema Malini, who got a ticket from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh while Olympian medalist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from Jaipur (Rural).
