Gujarat: Over 56% voting in Kadi, Visavadar bypolls; counting of votes on June 23
The by-elections to the Assembly constituencies of Kadi in Mehsana district and Visavadar in Junagadh recorded approximately 57.90% and 56.89% polling, respectively, on Thursday, said a release from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer. The voting got completed in a 'peaceful atmosphere', the official release added.
Counting of votes will be done on June 23.
The release stated that the approximate voter turnout is as per data uploaded till 7 pm.
The state government had declared a holiday on Thursday for the two constituencies for voting. The polling started at 7 am and concluded at 6 pm.
The bypoll of Kadi assembly constituency was necessitated after it fell vacant following the death of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Karshan Solanki in February this year. The seat is reserved for the Scheduled Caste communities and a total of eight candidates were in the fray in the electoral battle.
The BJP has fielded Rajendra Chavda on the seat whereas the Congress has nominated a former MLA from the same seat, Ramesh Chavda, as its candidate for Kadi. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has nominated Jagdish Chavda for the seat.
At Visavadar constituency, the by-election was necessitated after sitting MLA from AAP, Bhupendra Bhayani, resigned from the seat in December 2023 and later joined the BJP. All eyes were on the BJP to see if it would field Bhayani on the seat or not. Eventually, the party nominated its former Junagadh district president and local cooperative leader, Kirit Patel, from the seat.
The BJP is facing a challenge from AAP's senior leader Gopal Italia and Congress's Nitin Ranpariya on the seat.
The AAP has apparently thrown its weight behind the candidate in the Visavadar constituency with its top national leadership, including former Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi, and current Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, joining Italia as he filed his nomination papers.
In the past, Visavadar was represented by former CM Keshubhai Patel.
This time, the Praja Shakti Democratic Party (PSDP), launched by former CM Shankersinh Vaghela, has also nominated candidates for both the seats.
At present, the 182-member Gujarat Assembly has 161 MLAs of the BJP, followed by 12 of the Congress, and four of the AAP. While the Samajwadi Party (SP) has one legislator, two other MLAs are independents.
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