Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s niece fails to get BJP ticket to contest Ahmedabad civic polls

Ahmedabad : Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s niece Sonal Modi, who had sought BJP nomination to contest the Ahmedabad civic body polls, on Thursday failed to get a ticket with the party citing new rules for candidates.

The party refused to give Sonal a ticket citing new rules for candidates. The BJP announced its candidates for the upcoming elections to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), but Sonal Modi’s name does not figure in the list.

Talking to reporters on Tuesday, Sonal Modi had said she has sought BJP ticket to contest from Bodakdev ward of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

Sonal Modi is the daughter of Prahlad Modi, brother of Prime Minister Modi, who runs a ration shop in the city. Prahlad Modi is also the president of the Gujarat Fair Rate Shop Association.

Sonal has not been made a candidate from Bodakdev or any other ward in the list of candidates released by the BJP late Thursday. When BJP state unit president CR Patil was asked about not giving tickets to Sonal Modi, he replied that the rules were equal for all.

The BJP unit of Gujarat recently announced that relatives of party leaders will not be given tickets in the upcoming elections. However, Sonal Modi claimed that she did not seek the ticket for being a niece of the Prime Minister.

Voting will be held on February 21 for the elections to a total of six municipal corporations, including Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar in Gujarat, while votes will be cast on February 28 for 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats.