The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has bagged all eight Assembly seats in the Gujarat bypolls held on 3 November, as per the Election Commission.
The Congress, meanwhile, drew a blank.
A total of 81 candidates contested from Abdasa, Karjan, Morbi, Gadhada, Dhari, Limbdi, Kaprada and Dang and the saffron party won them all.
The voting for the bypolls took place on 3 November when a 60.75 per cent voter turnout was recorded.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that the results (Gujarat by-polls) are the trailer of upcoming local polls in the state, reported news agency ANI.
“Congress is a sinking ship...they have lost connect with the people. Results are against them everywhere. It is a party sans leadership. The results (the Gujarat bypolls) are a trailer for the upcoming local polls here.”Vijay Rupani, Gujarat CM
BJP Wins with Comfortable Margin
BJP’s Pradhyumansinh Jadeja, a Congress member who had joined the BJP earlier this year, defeated former’s Shantilal Senghani by a margin of 36,778 votes from the Abdasa Assembly seat in Kutch district of Gujarat, the Election Commission said. Jadeja had won the Abdasa seat in 2017 on a Congress ticket.
BJP’s Kiritsinh Jitubha Rana won over Congress’ Khachar Chetanbhai Ramkubhai by a margin of 32,050 votes from Limbdi.
With a fat margin of 60,095 votes, BJP’s Patel Vijaybhai Rameshbhai raced past Congress’ Suryakantbhai Ratanbhai Gavit.
Gujarat will hold full Assembly elections in 2022.
Leading Faces of Gujarat Bypoll
BJP’s Brijesh Merja won Morbi by the margin of 4,649 votes against Congress’ Jayantilal Patel
Morbi was the only seat when Congress was leading since morning.
Meanwhile, in Abdasa, Pradhumansinh Jadeja of BJP won against Congress by the margin of 36,778. The gap between BJP and Congress increased to more than 30,000, and around 25,000 in Limbdi, Dangs and Kaprada.
Earlier the BJP was leading in Gadhda with over 20,000 votes but then number shrunk to 15,000 by 2:00 pm. BJP’s Akshay Patel won Karjan by more than 16425 votes and in Dhara, BJP’s JV Kakadiya is ahead of his Congress the lead is around 10,000, NDTV reported.
BJP’s Jitu Chaudhari and Vijay Patel took a comfortable lead of more than 14,000 votes each over their challengers from the Congress in Kaprada and Dang, respectively.
Former BJP minister Atmaram Parmar is leading with over 9,500 votes in Gadhada.
A total of of 81 candidates contested for the eight seats in Gujarat. Polls were conducted amid strict restrictions due to coronavirus pandemic. A voter turnout of 60.75 percent was recorded.
Why Were Bypolls Necessitated?
Gujarat bypolls were necessitated on eight seats after sitting Congress MLAs resigned ahead of June Rajya Sabha elections earlier this year. These resignations helped the BJP win three of four seats in the Upper House.
Five of those MLAs later joined the BJP and are contesting the bypolls on the party ticket.
These five are JV Kakadia from Dhari, Merja from Morbi, Jitu Chaudhary from the tribal-reserved Kaprada seat, Akshay Patel from Karajan and Jadeja from Abdasa.
Bypolls for more than 50 Assembly seats (and one Lok Sabha constituency) were held on 3 and 7November, and results for these will be announced today
(With inputs from PTI, NDTV, Livemint)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)