Gujarat polls: 10 key seats to watch out for

Sitting MLA: Lakha Bharwad (Congress)

The Patidar quota stir leader, Hardik Patel, who was earlier in the Congress, is contesting his first election from Viramgam, his hometown, as a BJP candidate.

The Congress, which has been winning the seat since 2012, has again given ticket to the sitting MLA Lakha Bharwad. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Amarsinh Thakor. It will be a three-way contest in this constituency, where votes are divided between Patidars and OBCs.

Vadgam

Sitting MLA: Jignesh Mevani (Congress)

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani is seeking re-election from this seat in the Banaskantha district. He had won the seat in 2017 as an Independent backed by the Congress and is now contesting as a Congress candidate. One of the few seats dominated by the Muslim community, the seat is reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs).

Mevani is facing a tough fight here, with the BJP fielding Manilal Vaghela, a former Congress MLA from the seat, and the AAP fielding prominent Dalit rights activist Dalpat Bhatia. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has fielded Kalpesh Sundhiya.

Gandhinagar South

Sitting MLA: Shambhuji Thakor (BJP)

Another young leader to have emerged in recent years is Alpesh Thakor, a prominent OBC face, who is contesting elections from the seat as a BJP candidate. From the point of view of caste-based equations, this looks like an easy seat for him since the majority of the voters are from the Thakor community. However, a strong grassroots candidate and the Congress’s spokesperson, Himanshu Patel, has made the fight tough.

Jamalpur-Khadia

Sitting MLA: Imran Khedawala (Congress)

This is a Muslim-dominated seat within Ahmedabad and has been a Congress bastion. Sitting Congress MLA Imran Khedawala is seeking reelection and will be facing off the BJP’s Bhushan Bhatt, the AIMIM’s state president Sabir Kabliwala and Harun Nagori from the AAP, which might cut into the Congress’s votes.

Morbi

Sitting MLA: Brijesh Merja (BJP)

The constituency saw the Jhulto Pul suspension bridge disaster in November that killed 135 people. After the incident, the BJP dropped sitting MLA and minister of state for labour, Brijesh Merja. Contesting on the BJP ticket this time is Kantilal Amrutiya, a former MLA whose videos of rescuing people who fell from the suspension bridge, went viral.

Dediapada

Sitting MLA: Mahesh Vasava (Bhartiya Tribal Party)

The AAP’s nomination of Chaitar Vasava, a former confidant of sitting MLA and Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) president Mahesh Vasava, drove Mahesh out of the seat. The BJP has fielded Hitesh Vasava, who is known to be close to MP Mansukh Vasava, a former BTP leader. The Congress has fielded Jerma Vasava.

Jasdan

Sitting MLA: Kunvarji Bavaliya (BJP)

This seat in the Rajkot district is set for a showdown between veteran Kunvarji Bavaliya and his one-time protégé Bhola Gohil. Bavaliya won this seat as a Congress leader in 1995, 1998, 2002 and 2007 before his election to the Lok Sabha in 2009. While Bavaliya was serving as the MP of Rajkot, Congress gave the ticket to Gohil in the 2012 elections.

In July 2018, Bavaliya switched to the BJP, resigned as an MLA, and won again in the bypoll. This is his eighth election from the seat and his second as a BJP candidate. The AAP’s candidate from the seat is Tejas Gajipara.

Visavadar

Sitting MLA: Harshad Ribadiya (Congress, now with BJP)

A seat dominated by Patidar voters, Visavadar has seen high-stakes battles in the past with former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel winning from here in 1995 and forming the first BJP government in the state. The BJP went on to win it in the 1998, 2002 and 2007 polls.

In 2012, the BJP suffered a defeat here when Keshubhai rebelled and floated the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP). In 2014, the GPP merged with BJP and Patel resigned as the Visavadar MLA. In the subsequent bypoll, BJP fielded Keshubhai’s son Bharat, who was defeated by Harshad Ribadiya of the Congress. Ribadiya retained the seat in 2017. He recently defected to the BJP

and is contesting on a BJP ticket now. He will contest against Karshan Vadodariya (Congress) and Bhupat Bhayani (AAP).

Varaccha Road

Sitting MLA: Kumar Kanani (BJP)

One of the 12 urban seats of Surat city, it was one of the hotspots of the Patidar quota agitation led by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS). This time, PAAS convener Alpesh Kathiriya is contesting on the AAP ticket against the BJP’s sitting MLA Kumar Kanani. The Congress has fielded Praful Togadiya.

Rajkot East

Sitting MLA: Arvind Raiyani (BJP)

One of the four seats within Rajkot city, Rajkot East is considered a BJP stronghold. The saffron party has fielded its OBC cell chairman Uday Kangad. The Congress has given its ticket to former MLA Idranil Rajyaguru, who had won the seat in 2012. Challenging then CM Vijay Rupani, he shifted his constituency to Rajkot West during the 2017 polls but lost to the BJP leader. He quit the Congress in 2018, joined it early this year, and again quit to join the AAP in March. However, he quit the AAP and returned to Congress again, in November. The AAP has fielded Rahul Bhuva from the seat.