Victory in Ahmedabad, but BJP ‘bastion’ since 1972 falls to Congress

Calling it a victory of India, the Jamalpur-Khadia assembly constituency’s Congress MLA Imran Khedawala said this had happened for the first time in nearly 70 years.

“Today, the politics of hatred has been defeated. While BJP leaders had said that they will not let Khadia become another Pakistan, by creating this history, the people of Khadia have defeated Pakistan, and India has won. The BJP might have won the entire state, but they lost their stronghold, from where the Jan Sangh started, and then the BJP,” Khedawala claimed.

During the campaigning for the locals, and also the inauguration of the BJP’s central office in Khadia, former BJP MLA Bhushan Bhatt had stated: “More focus is on dividing the united Khadia than performing the ‘Char Dham’ pilgrimage, but from 1972 to 2026, the BJP has been winning in Khadia. So, in the 2026 elections, let us all together resolve that we will not let Khadia become Pakistan.”

This statement made by Bhatt, the son of late Ashok Bhatt, who represented the constituency for eight consecutive terms and served as speaker of the Gujarat assembly, saw a strong resentment from the locals.

Bhushan Bhatt, however, blamed the loss on low voting by Hindu voters in Khadia ward. “With the change in demography, there are 40,000 Hindu and 33,000 Muslim votes. On Sunday, Muslim voters cast their votes in larger numbers compared to the Hindu voters. Muslim voters came out to vote in large numbers from 1 pm to 4 pm and ours came only from 4 pm to 6 pm. We did not leave any part of the ward to motivate voters to vote but our voters could not compete with their number in two hours…” the ex-MLA said.

He, however, promised to make a ‘fresh start’, which would begin from Khadia.

Ahmedabad city Congress Committee president Sonal Patel described this as a ‘historic’ victory for the Congress in Kadhia ward. “Congress candidates Meena Nayak, Birjuben Thakkar, Dhruv Kalapi and Mohammad Ilyas Pathan have created history by winning the Khadia ward.”

Patel, however, added, “We could have done better as we lost on several seats like Saraspur, Bapunagar, Kubernagar and Shahpur by a very thin margin. While the AIMIM and the AAP could not make any inroads this time, some independents have impacted our vote-share. Also, I think we suffered due to the hike in OBC reservation in wards like Kubernagar and Gomtipur for instance.”

In Ahmedabad, while the BJP has benefitted in Kubernagar, Lambha, Amraiwadi and Chandkheda, the Congress could wrest seats in Bapunagar, Jamalpur, Makhtampura and Saraspur Rakhiyal. In 2021, the BJP had 159, the Congress 25, and the AIMIM seven seats. One other seat was won by an independent.