In the Gujarat Assembly bypolls held on June 19, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) each secured one seat as counting concluded on Monday.
AAP leader and former Gujarat state president Gopal Italia won the Visavadar seat in Junagadh district, defeating BJP’s Kirit Patel by a margin of 17,554 votes. Italia secured 75,942 votes, while Patel got 58,388. The win is significant as BJP had hoped to break its 18-year losing streak in Visavadar, where it last won in 2007.
The seat became vacant in December 2023 when AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the BJP. Congress had fielded Nitin Ranpariya, but he failed to make an impact.
In the Kadi constituency of Mehsana district, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, BJP’s Rajendra Chavda won by a massive margin of 39,452 votes against Congress candidate Ramesh Chavda. Rajendra Chavda received 99,742 votes, while Ramesh Chavda got 60,290.
The Kadi seat had been vacant since February 4 after the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki. Ramesh Chavda had earlier won the seat in 2012 but lost to Solanki in 2017.
Voter turnout stood at 57.90% in Kadi and 56.89% in Visavadar. Counting began at 8 am and ended around 1:30 pm.
The results reflect AAP’s continued presence in Gujarat while reaffirming BJP’s strong hold over the state, especially in its traditional bastions like Kadi.
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