A shock result from the election was the defeat of senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil
For some big names who contested the recently concluded assembly polls, the gamble to fight from a seat other than their traditional one failed to pay off, pushing them to the losing side.
The most high-octane contest was between Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Congress MLA Indranil Rajguru from Rajkot West constituency. Rajguru, the second richest candidate in the fray, with assets worth Rs 141 crore, had won from Rajkot East in 2012 but shifted to West in a bid to challenge Rupani. His bold move left him beaten by a margin of over 53,000 votes. Contesting against the CM, though, is likely to help his political profile.
A shock result from the election was the defeat of senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil.
After losing from the Bhavnagar Rural seat in 2012, Gohil had been elected to the assembly from Abdasa in Kutch in the 2014 by-election. This time, Gohil contested from Mandvi and was drubbed by BJP’s Virendrasinh Jadeja by over 9,000 votes.
Senior BJP leader Ramanlal Vora was also among the candidates who contested from a different seat and lost. Vora had won from Idar (SC) seat in Sabarkantha five times in a row between 1995 and 2012. Wary of anti-incumbency, the BJP shifted him to Dasada (SC) seat in Surendranagar in this election. The move, however, failed to help him, as he lost by a little under 4,000 votes.
Gujarati film actor Hitu Kanodiya, who the BJP fielded from Idar seat in Vora’s place, won by close to 15,000 votes. Kanodiya had contested unsuccessfully from Kadi (SC) seat in the 2012 elections.
Former MLA Kanu Kalsaria, meanwhile, tried his luck from Mahuva in Bhavnagar this time but lost. He had won in 2007 from the same seat. In 2012, however, he had contested unsuccessfully from Gariadhar.
Senior BJP leader Dileep Sanghani, who contested from Dhari seat in these elections, also lost. He had also contested unsuccessfully against Congress’s Paresh Dhanani in 2012 from Amreli, the seat he had won from in 2007.
Bavku Undhad is another senior leader who contested from a different seat and ended up on the losing side. Undhad had won in 2012 from Lathi, but stood from Amreli in the recent elections. He was defeated by Congress’s Paresh Dhanani by a margin of over 12,000 votes.
A few candidates, though, also managed to defy the trend.
Ex-minister and MLA from Akota, Saurabh Patel, won from his traditional Botad seat in these elections. Former state BJP president RC Faldu won from Jamnagar South this time. In 2012, he had contested from Jamnagar Rural but had lost.
THE EXCEPTIONS
- A few candidates managed to defy the trend. Among them is MLA from Akota, Saurabh Patel, who won from his traditional Botad seat, and former state BJP president RC Faldu
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 "Indranil Rajguru, Shaktisinh Gohil and Kanu Kalsaria")
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