Guj: BJP leading in 24 seats, Cong in Banaskantha; Amit Shah ahead by over 7.10 lakh votes

Ahmedabad, Jun 4 (PTI) The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is leading in 24 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat as the counting of votes is underway while in Banaskantha constituency, Congress's Geniben Thakor has gained a comfortable lead over her BJP rival Rekha Chaudhari.

Thakor is leading by 33,000 votes, as per the latest update by the Election Commission of India.

Among BJP heavyweights, Union Home Minister Amit Shah was leading by a massive margin of 7,11,908 votes. Two other Union ministers, namely Mansukh Mandaviya and Parshottam Rupala, are leading by a margin of over 3.80 lakh votes and more than 4.65 lakh votes, respectively. State BJP president CR Paatil was leading by a margin of over 6.78 lakh votes.

Notably, the BJP had swept Gujarat, the home state of PM Modi and Shah, in the 2014 and 2019 general elections by winning all 26 seats.

This time, the BJP had won the Surat Lok Sabha constituency unopposed even when the election process was not completed as the nomination of Congress candidate was rejected due to irregularities in the signatures of backers, while all other candidates withdrew from the fray. Polling was held for 25 seats in this general election.

As per the trends, the BJP looks comfortably placed in 24 seats except for Banaskantha.

Earlier in the day, the Congress was leading in the Banaskantha and Patan constituencies. However, as counting rounds progressed, Patan nominee Chandanji Thakor trailed behind his BJP rival Bharatsinh Dabhi by over 25,000 votes.

Even as the counting was underway, Geniben Thakor said it was a victory for the people of Banaskantha.

"Satyamev Jayate," she said in her first reaction after gaining a comfortable lead.

"Heartiest congratulations to our sister Ganiben for winning from Banaskantha by more than fifteen thousand votes," state Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil said on X.

The ruling BJP led all five assembly seats in Gujarat for which byelections were held.

Congress turncoats Arjun Modhwadia and CJ Chavda were leading against their rivals in the Porbandar and Vijapur seats, respectively, as per the data.

Bypolls were held in Porbandar, Manavadar, Khambhat, Vaghodiya and Vijapur seats, necessitated after the MLAs joined the BJP.

All five of them were fielded from their respective seats as BJP candidates. PTI KA PD NP NSK