After the results, Vijay Rupani said the bypoll victory was a “breakthrough” for the 2022 state assembly polls (archive)
Ahmedabad:
The BJP, which had managed to retain power in Gujarat with a slim majority in the 2017 Assembly elections, has now improved its position ahead of the 2022 state elections by winning all eight seats in the by-elections held last week.
The bypoll results announced on Tuesday have especially consolidated Gujarat Prime Minister Vijay Rupani’s position in the saffron party and in state politics.
By winning all eight seats, the BJP has further increased its count to 111 in the 182-member House, while the Congressional count has dropped to 65.
In 2017 Assembly polls, the saffron party’s tally was 99, 16 down from the 115 it had won in the 2012 elections. For the first time, the BJP’s tally had fallen below the 100 mark since he formed his first government on his own in 1995. Congress had made significant strides in the 2017 polls by winning 77 seats.
However, after that, the BJP had increased its number in the House by winning subsequent elections.
Speculation abounded in 2017 that the BJP could replace Rupani with some other leader. However, the party did not.
Eight MLAs from Congress had resigned before the Rajya Sabha elections held in Gujarat earlier this year, and five of them, who were given tickets by the BJP, their new party, won on Tuesday.
Despite switching sides, the voters in their districts placed faith in these five leaders and sent them to the Assembly.
After the results, Rupani declared the secondary victory a “trailer” for the 2022 state assembly elections.
He said that the party has received the support of various communities such as Patels, Tribals, Kolis since by-elections were held in seats dominated by these communities.
After his stellar performance in the 2017 Assembly polls on the back of the Patidar quota uproar, the opposition Congress was hopeful that the numerically strong community will support him in the by-elections held on November 3. .
However, the party was unable to retain the two seats, Morbi and Dhari, where the Patidar community has a strong presence.
In the two tribal seats of Dang and Kaprada too, the BJP won by a large margin.
Congress expressed disappointment at the result of the by-elections.
Gujarat Congress President Amit Chavda said the party accepted the people’s verdict, although it was contrary to their expectations that they would teach the BJP a lesson for indulging in horse trading and using the power of money.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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