Gandhinagar civic polls face candidate withdrawals and internal party dissent

The Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation elections in Gujarat are facing political turbulence as both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) deal with candidate shifts.

AAP state frontal president Praveen Ram alleged that five of the party’s candidates withdrew their nominations due to joint pressure and a “conspiracy” orchestrated by the BJP and Congress. Following the rejection of four nominations and the withdrawal of five others, AAP is left with 32 candidates contesting the 44 available seats across 11 wards.

Simultaneously, the BJP is facing internal challenges from disgruntled workers. More than five party members have filed nominations as independents after being denied official tickets. These rebels include former BJP corporator Nila Shukla and long-time worker Shirish Modi. The civic polls are viewed as a significant test of organizational strength ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.