Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zhala, the two Congress turncoats who joined the BJP right after the Rajya Sabha polls held a few months back, lost the Radhanpur and Bayad Assembly Seats respectively.
Meanwhile, the Congress also won the Tharad Assembly seat after a gap of 15 years. The seat was vacated after BJP MLA Parbat Patel won the Banakantha Lok Sabha seat in the General Elections held in April-May this year
In the Amraiwadi seat of Ahmedabad, Congress' Dharmendra Patel was leading over BJP's Jagdish Patel; however, Jagdish has now gained momentum and is leading the race.
In Kheralu (Mehsana), BJP candidate Ajmalji Thakor who leading Congress' Babuji Thakor has won the bypoll.
In Lunawada (Mahisagar) seat, BJP candidate Jignesh Sevak leads over Congress candidate Gulabsinh Chauhan by over 9,600 votes.
Gujarat Congress, which was dissolved by the AICC on Wednesday, 23 October, was expected to lose all six seats to the BJP, which was riding the Modi wave of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But it turns out that voters at the local level have turned their backs on the saffron party in at least three seats.
“Dissolving the party at this stage is a national-level revamp the high command is undertaking, notwithstanding that we fielded good candidates against the BJP. As it is, there is a lot of resentment at the local level against the BJP government in the Centre and the state. As for Alpesh and Dhavalsinh, the voters of Radhanpur and Bayad felt betrayed after the duo moved to the BJP for political gain and it reflects in the result.”Manish Doshi, Spokesperson, Gujarat
The Quint also reached out to Gujarat BJP Spokesperson Prashant Vala, but he refused to give any reactions and stated that once the final results are out, the party will hold a press conference at Kamalam, BJP’s Gujarat headquarters at Gandhinagar.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)