Candidate with three party mandates says he didn’t know about two

Vadodara: The candidate whose nominations for a district panchayat seat in Dahod district had mandates from three different parties now claims he was not aware about two mandates submitted for his nomination. Bharatsinh Vakhala said that he will be contesting from the BJP.The curious case of Vakhala baffled election officials as three forms for the Pipero assembly seat submitted in his name had mandates from three different parties – BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Vakhala contested the Devgadh Baria assembly constituency in 2017 on a Congress ticket and in 2022 from AAP. On both occasions, he lost to BJP heavyweight and former minister Bachu Khabad of the BJP.Vakhala, who came for scrutiny of nomination forms on Monday, said he was told by mediapersons about the mandates two days back. He told mediapersons that he saw the mandates during the scrutiny of forms today. "I have decided to contest from the BJP and have submitted this in writing today," he said. The Congress has an alternative candidates on the seat, but the only nomination filed with an AAP mandate was that of Vakhala.Sources said Vakhala is a heavyweight in the Devgadh Baria area and has been challenging the dominance of Khabad for some time. His candidature from the BJP is seen as a hint that the party was for alternatives in Devgadh Baria after Khabad's sons were named in the MNREGA scam in the district. The scam caused a major embarrassment to the party.