Gujarat Bypolls: BJP's Rajendra Chavda Clinches Kadi Assembly Seat With 39,452-Vote Margin
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looked poised for a win in Kadi. BJP's Rajendra Chavda won Kadi (Gujarat) Assembly by-election by a margin of 39,452 votes, garnering 99,742 votes in total.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looked poised for a win in Kadi. BJP's Rajendra Chavda won Kadi (Gujarat) Assembly by-election by a margin of 39,452 votes, garnering 99,742 votes in total. Counting began for the bypolls to two assembly seats in Gujarat on Monday.
The byelections for Kadi and Visavadar were held on June 19, with the BJP, Congress, and AAP fielding their candidates in both constituencies.
BJP's Rajendra Chavda Wins Kadi Seat
In Kadi, located in Mehsana district and reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, BJP’s Rajendra Chavda took a comfortable lead with 12,701 votes after the initial rounds. Congress candidate Ramesh Chavda was trailing with 6,949 votes.
The Kadi seat fell vacant following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki on February 4. Congress fielded Ramesh Chavda, a former MLA who won in 2012 but lost the seat to Solanki in 2017. AAP also contested Kadi, with Jagdish Chavda as its candidate, creating a three-way fight similar to Visavadar.
Close Contest in Visavadar
The Visavadar seat in Junagadh district fell vacant in December 2023 after then AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani resigned to join the ruling BJP. After two rounds of counting, AAP’s former Gujarat president Gopal Italia was ahead by 391 votes.
As per Election Commission data, Italia had secured 7,179 votes while BJP’s Kirit Patel trailed with 6,788 votes. The Congress has fielded Nitin Ranpariya in Visavadar. Despite its dominance in Gujarat, the BJP has not won the Visavadar seat since 2007. Party leaders earlier said they were hopeful of ending this 18-year drought.
In the 2022 assembly elections, AAP’s Bhupendra Bhayani defeated BJP’s Harshad Ribadiya, a former Congress MLA, by 7,063 votes.
Voter Turnout and Current Assembly Strength
The bypolls witnessed a voter turnout of 57.90 per cent in Kadi and 56.89 per cent in Visavadar.
In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP holds a commanding majority with 161 MLAs, while Congress has 12 and AAP has four. One seat belongs to the Samajwadi Party, and two are held by independents.
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