Congress has broken its decade-long jinx in Gujarat after its candidate Geniben Thakor won from Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat by more than 30,000 votes.
Despite financial constraints, BJP's grip in the state, the Congress 'giant slayer' successfully crowdfunded her campaign to secure her debut in the Lok Sabha.
Congress had drawn a blank in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi both in 2014 and 2019 when the BJP had swept all 26 seats.
Geniben Thakor defeated the BJP's Rekha Chaudhari by 30,406 votes in a nail-biting contest. Thakor polled 6,71,883 votes against her rival's 6,41,477.
The BJP had won the Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat on the last three occasions consecutively, including the 2013 bye-election. Meanwhile, the Congress had won the seat in 2004 and again in 2009 when Mukesh Gadhvi defeated BJP's Haribhai Chaudhary.
Here is all you need to know about Geniben Thakor, the sole Congress candidate to get a seat in the BJP bastion this Lok Sabha election:
- Thakor is currently a Congress MLA from Vav Assembly seat in Gujarat. Her campaign for the Lok Sabha polls was crowdfunded after Congress said it wasn't in a position to financially back its nominees.
- Thakor had earlier defeated BJP heavyweight Shankar Chaudhary in the 2017 assembly election, and retained the seat in 2022 by defeating the BJP's Swarupji Thakor.
- She has also been known to court controversy with her statements. She had once lauded a diktat issued by her community elders in 12 villages banning inter-caste marriages and prohibiting unmarried young women from carrying mobile phones, as per PTI.
- In 2018, after the rape of a 14-month-old baby, she had said that rapists should be burnt alive by a mob rather than being handed over to the police.
- Thakor was one of the 16 MLAs suspended by the Gujarat Assembly last year for protesting against the suspension of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as an MP.
- The Congress MP is known for her strong stand against alcohol and for implementing the liquor ban.