Khadia bypoll: Muslims help BJP keep its bastion

Congress candidate Jagat Shukla was leading in the initial rounds of counting of votes at Gujarat College on Thursday.

While Bhatt polled 19,501 of the total 37,480 votes,Shukla got 17,082 votes. The remaining three candidates — Iqbal Shaikh (280 votes),Manish Brahmbhatt (337 votes) and Rahul Mehta (334 votes) — lost their deposits. The constituency has 72,237 voters.

While the BJP seemed losing its voter base in Khadia war— there was an erosion of 35 per cent the — it gained new ground in the Muslim-dominated Raikhad ward,where it got nearly 17 per cent votes for the first time.

State BJP president R C Faldu and other party leaders greeted Bhatt at a public function in Raipur Chakla. State BJP vice-president Kaushik Patel acknowledged that the Muslims had backed the BJP once again after the Kathlal bypoll. In his public speech,Bhatt said his victory belonged not to him but to the people of Khadia and Narendra Modi.

Earlier,in the morning,he said his focus in the Assembly would be on getting piped gas supply in his area and expediting BRTS in the old city in its third phase.

There was some commotion at the counting venue when some unidentified persons tried to obstruct Shukla while he was going back. Former mayor Amit Shah intervened,asking party workers to shown restraint in the time of victory.

A dejected Shukla said his defeat had something to do with slackness in campaign in certain areas. He is learnt to have said he would draw attention of the party leadership to suspected saboteaurs.