Shah files nomination, vows to pursue Advani's legacy

 BJP President Amit Shah on Saturday filed his nomination papers for the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat, promising to pursue the legacy of party veteran L.K. Advani who had represented the constituency since 1998 but was now denied a ticket.

Shah, contesting his first Lok Sabha election, urged the people to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party in all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who he described as "Gujarat's son".

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Shiromani Akali Dal supremo and former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan as well as Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal were present on the occasion.

The only notable absentee was Advani.

Before filing his nomination, the BJP chief and party leaders addressed a gathering at Naranpura and held a huge road show.

Addressing the gathering, Shah said whatever he had achieved in his life was because of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"If the party is removed from my life, I will be zero. I started my political journey as a booth level worker of the constituency where I have been fielded as a candidate after being made the party President," he said.

Shah, a Rajya Sabha member, said he was lucky that he was the candidate in a seat which had been represented by stalwarts like P.V. Mavlankar, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani.

"Gandhinagar is the most developed parliamentary constituency of the country. I will try my best to pursue the legacy of Advaniji."

The BJP leader said that the upcoming elections would be fought on the issue of leadership and the entire country was rooting for Prime Minister Modi.

"This happened because of the leadership provided by Modiji. The country was looking for such a leader for the last 70 years. Who can provide security to the country? Only Modiji can do so. Only the BJP and NDA can do so.

"It is certain that Modiji will again become the PM," he added.

Gujarat will go the polls on April 23.-IANS