Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja is on the cloud nine after his wife Rivaba Jadeja has won a BJP ticket to contest in the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls. Rivaba joined the BJP in 2019 and she is one of the first-timers to get conferred with the prospect to enter the legislative assembly. After learning about Rivaba's candidature, several party functionaries have been extending their wishes to her. 

Rivaba will be contesting from the Jamnagar North constituency and for the first time since his wife's candidature was made public, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja opened up about the development and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for awarding a ticket to his wife. Taking to Twitter, Jadeja said, "Congratulations to my wife on getting a BJP ticket for the Vidhan Sabha elections."

He further wrote, "So proud of all the effort and hardwork which you have put in. My best wishes to you, may you continue to work for the development of the society. I also wish to thank our honourable PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji and Shri Amit Shah Ji for believing in her abilities and giving her a opportunity to do noble work." In another tweet, he wrote, "Thanks a lot everyone for all the support and love. Jai Hind." 

The assembly polls in Gujarat will be held from December 1 to 5, 2022, in two phases to elect 182 members of its legislative assembly. The votes will be counted and the results will be announced on December 8. The top-notch race is between the potent ruling BJP and beleaguered Congress. For nearly three decades, BJP is ruling Gujarat, which is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his loyal lieutenant, Union Home Minister Amit Shah.  

This time, a lot has been at the stake for BJP, including the public outcry that erupted after the bridge collapse in Morbi, which killed hundreds of people. The state-ruling BJP government was directly targeted for the fatal fall as the bridge was reopened without a proper fitness certificate. In the midst of such challenges and facing a tough fight from Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, the BJP is chalking out various poll promises, and recently, it has launched the 'Agresar Gujarat' (Leading Gujarat) campaign. 

Several national leaders including the Prime Minister have been rolling out their campaign tours across the state. Three weeks ahead of the voting, the BJP has on Thursday - November 10 unveiled its first list of candidates, which contained the names of 160 candidates. As per the announcement,  Rivaba will be contesting in the BJP ticket from the Jamnagar North constituency.  

Rivaba Jadeja joined the BJP in 2019, three years after marrying Ravindra Jadeja. She did Mechanical Engineering at the Atmiya Institute of Technology and Science in Rajkot. As one of the star campaigners for the party in the state, it is the first time Rivaba has been given a ticket to contest in the polls and it has come at a high time when the BJP aims to win big by defeating the new and old rivals ahead of the 2024 general elections. 

Rivaba has been an active politician in the Jamnagar and Saurashtra regions due to which BJP believes that she would have a political breakthrough from Jamnagar. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will be contesting the elections from the Ghatlodiya constituency while former Congress leader Hardik Patel will be contesting in a BJP ticket from Viramgram. Of these 160 candidates, seven leaders fought on the Congress ticket last time.

Jai hind 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/JWdbV0brab

— Ravindrasinh jadeja (@imjadeja) November 10, 2022