Gandhinagar, June 23 (IANS) The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has retained the Kadi Assembly seat in Gujarat with its candidate Rajendrakumar Chavda securing the victory by a margin of 39,452 votes over his rival.

The bypoll, necessitated following the death of BJP MLA Karsanbhai Solanki, concluded with a voter turnout of 56.89 per cent on June 19, according to the Election Commission of India.

Rajendra Chavda bagged 99,742 votes, while Congress candidate Ramesh Chavda polled 60,290 votes. The Aam Aadmi Party’s Jagdish Chavda managed just 3,090 votes, and 1,701 votes were cast for the None of the Above (NOTA) option.

The BJP maintained a consistent lead through all 22 rounds of counting since it began at 8 a.m. on Monday.

Celebrating the result, the MLA-elect credited the victory to the party organisation and public faith in the government. “This is a mandate for development and governance. The voters have once again reposed their trust in the BJP’s way of working,” said Chavda.

With this win, the BJP’s tally in the 182-member Gujarat Legislative Assembly has now gone up from 161 to 162 seats, further consolidating its already dominant position.

The by-election saw a total of eight candidates in the fray, though the primary battle remained between the BJP and the Congress.

Among the smaller players were the Shankersinh Vaghela-led Prajashakti Democratic Party, Bharatiya Jan Parishad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Party, Aapki Awaz Party, and the AAP, which contested separately from Congress despite being part of the national INDIA bloc.

The Kadi Assembly constituency in Gujarat’s Mehsana district is a bellwether seat in North Gujarat, a region with 32 Assembly segments, where the BJP has historically performed well. In the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections, the BJP won 26 of these 32 seats, including Kadi.

The constituency falls under the Mahesana Lok Sabha seat, which the BJP has held since 2009. Kadi has over 2.5 lakh registered voters, predominantly from agrarian and OBC communities, making it a strategic touchpoint for gauging rural sentiment.

–IANS

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