Gujarat Verdict 2022: Kantilal Amrutiya Wins Morbi For BJP, Defeats Congress' Jayantilal Patel By 62,079 Votes

Gujarat Assembly Election 2022: Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Kantilal Amrutiya won from the Morbi constituency in Gujarat on December 8, defeating Congress' Jayantilal Patel by 62,079 votes.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Kantilal Amrutiya emerged as a winner from Morbi constituency in Gujarat, on December 8, during the 2022 Legislative Assembly election in Gujarat. Garnering 114,538 votes, Amrutiya defeated the Indian National Congress's (INC's) Jayantilal Patel by 62,079 votes. Patel received 52,459 votes, while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Pankaj Ransariya received 17,544 votes. 

Amrutiya won 59.21 per cent of the total votes, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Before Amrutiya's victory, Morbi had been a Patidar-dominated constituency. 

Morbi Bridge Tragedy

On October 30, 2022, a suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in Morbi collapsed, leading to the deaths of 135 people. 

The Morbi incident took place weeks ahead of the announcement of the Assembly election in Gujarat. According to a report by news agency ANI, locals from Morbi had said that the tragedy was unlikely to minimise the chances of BJP winning the Assembly election. The locals believed that the BJP was not responsible for the tragedy. 

According to the report, people are also of the opinion that they have been witnessing development under the BJP for a number of years, and that the party's performance should not be judged based on a single tragic incident.

More about Morbi and Amrutiya

In July 2015, Patidar youth started public demonstrations across Gujarat demanding Other Backward Class (OBC) status for Patidars. This entitled them to a reserved quota of spots in government jobs and education. This was called the Patidar reservation agitation. Due to this agitation, BJP's Amrutiya lost to INC's Brijesh Merja in 2017. 

However, Merja later quit Congress and joined the BJP, and won on a BJP ticket in the 2020 Bypoll Elections. 

Following the Morbi tragedy, the BJP sidelined sitting MLA Merja and instead gave the constituency's ticket to five-time MLA Amrutiya. 

Amrutiya grabbed headlines when he jumped into the Machchhu River to rescue people following the Morbi Bridge collapse. He reportedly saved several lives through his act. 

Amrutiya won from the Morbi constituency in 1995, 1998, 2002, 2007, and 2012. 

Amrutiya is also known as 'Kanabhai'. The five-time BJP MLA from Morbi has a net worth of over nine crores.