AHMEDABAD: The 23 urban seats that will go to polls on Monday have been the focus of PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah during the last lap of their campaign. These seats had cumulatively recorded 69.3% voting in 2012 that declined to 67% in 2017.
Central and north Gujarat didn’t see either BJP or Congress make any inroads into each other’s bastions over the past two elections, a status quo that at least the saffron party seems determined to break this time around. While Congress won 39 seats in both elections, BJP had 52 and 51 seats, respectively.
Viramgam could make for an interesting contest, with Patidar quota stir architect Hardik Patel making his electoral debut on home turf as a BJP candidate seven years after trying to bring down the then Anandiben Patel government. Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani is contesting the Vadgam seat, this time as a Congress candidate, while OBC leader Alpesh Thakor is vying for Gandhinagar (south) on a BJP ticket.
Congress expects to cling to its strongholds like Dehgam, where the party’s state president Jagdish Thakor is contesting.
In Bharuch, an engaging battle is expected on the Vagra seat where Congress veteran late Ahmed Patel’s daughter Mumtaz has been aggressively campaigning for Suleiman Patel. BJP’s Arunsinh Rana defeated Patel in 2017. Another interesting contest could be in Jambusar, where Swaminarayan monk and BJP candidate DK Swamy is testing the political waters for the first time.
Central and north Gujarat didn’t see either BJP or Congress make any inroads into each other’s bastions over the past two elections, a status quo that at least the saffron party seems determined to break this time around. While Congress won 39 seats in both elections, BJP had 52 and 51 seats, respectively.
Viramgam could make for an interesting contest, with Patidar quota stir architect Hardik Patel making his electoral debut on home turf as a BJP candidate seven years after trying to bring down the then Anandiben Patel government. Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani is contesting the Vadgam seat, this time as a Congress candidate, while OBC leader Alpesh Thakor is vying for Gandhinagar (south) on a BJP ticket.
Congress expects to cling to its strongholds like Dehgam, where the party’s state president Jagdish Thakor is contesting.
In Bharuch, an engaging battle is expected on the Vagra seat where Congress veteran late Ahmed Patel’s daughter Mumtaz has been aggressively campaigning for Suleiman Patel. BJP’s Arunsinh Rana defeated Patel in 2017. Another interesting contest could be in Jambusar, where Swaminarayan monk and BJP candidate DK Swamy is testing the political waters for the first time.
