Gujarat bypolls: AAP takes wide lead in Visavadar, BJP set to retain Kadi

Ahmedabad: AAP candidate Gopal Italia took a comfortable lead against rivals in Visavadar seat while the BJP was set to retain Kadi seat as the counting for bypolls to the two constituencies in Gujarat was nearing conclusion on Monday, officials said.

After the completion of 18 out of the total 21 rounds of counting, AAP's former Gujarat president Italia was leading over his nearest rival in Visavadar by 14,073 votes.

While Italia received 65,295 votes, BJP candidate Kirit Patel was behind him with 51,222 votes after 18 rounds, as per the latest data shared by the Election Commission.

In Kadi seat, reserved for the Scheduled Caste candidates, BJP's Rajendra Chavda was leading by a wide margin of 35,608 votes over Congress' Ramesh Chavda, after the end of 16 out of 21 rounds of counting.

The bypolls, held on June 19, witnessed 57.90 per cent voter turnout in Kadi seat of Mehsana district and 56.89 per cent in Visavadar constituency located in Junagadh district, officials said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded their candidates in the two seats.

The Visavadar seat fell vacant in December 2023 after the then AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP.

The Congress has fielded Nitin Ranpariya in Visavadar.

Despite its near-total dominance in the state, the BJP has not won the Visavadar seat since 2007. Party leaders had hoped of overcoming the 18-year jinx this time.

In the last assembly election in 2022, AAP's Bhupendra Bhayani defeated BJPâs Harshad Ribadiya, a Congress turncoat and former MLA, by 7,063 votes.

The Kadi constituency was lying vacant since February 4 following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki.

For the Kadi bypoll, the Congress gave ticket to Ramesh Chavda, a former MLA, who won the seat in 2012, but lost it to BJP's Karsanbhai Solanki in 2017.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP fielded Jagdish Chavda in Kadi.

In the 182-member Gujarat assembly, the BJP currently has 161 legislators, Congress 12 and AAP four. While one seat is with the Samajwadi Party, two are with independents.