Shah leads by 4.52L votes in Gandhinagar, BJP dominates Gujarat
What's the story
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to maintain its dominance in Gujarat, according to the latest trends from the Election Commission of India. The party is leading in 23 constituencies, with the Congress only ahead in Patan. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is poised for victory in Gandhinagar with a significant lead of over 4 lakh votes.
Shah's victory
Shah leads in Gandhinagar
As of Tuesday afternoon, Shah has secured 582,216 votes, outperforming his Congress opponent Sonal Patel by a margin of 452,000 votes. The Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Mohammedanish Desai is far behind with only 3,765 votes. This isn't the first time Shah has triumphed in Gandhinagar; he previously won this seat—once held by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani—by over 557,000 votes in the 2019 elections.
BJP's dominance
BJP candidates lead by 1 lakh+ votes in several constituencies
According to the ECI data, multiple BJP candidates are leading their rivals by margins exceeding 1 lakh votes in the state. Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is currently ahead in the Porbandar constituency with a lead of 348,329 votes. Meanwhile, BJP Gujarat chief CR Patil is expected to retain his Navsari seat with a lead of 4.59 lakh votes.
Congress performance
Congress candidate lead in Patan
On the other side, Congress candidate Chandanji Thakor is leading by a narrow margin of 4,874 votes in the Patan constituency. The Congress's Geniben Nagaji Thakor had managed to secure a lead of just 1,385 votes in Banaskantha for a while, but it was upturned shortly after. Despite this, the overall performance of the Congress remains overshadowed by BJP's dominance in Gujarat.
By-election results
BJP leads in all five Assembly by-election seats
In addition to their Lok Sabha success, the BJP has also established a comfortable lead in all five assembly seats where by-elections were held in early May. These bypolls took place in Porbandar, Manavadar, Khambhat, Vaghodiya, and Vijapur after the sitting Congress and independent MLAs joined the BJP. Notably, the party chose to field the same candidates for these polls.