BJP wins 4, Cong 3 seats in Guj Assembly by-polls

After whitewashing Congress in all the 26 seats in Gujarat, the ruling BJP has pulled off a modest performance in the Assembly by-polls by winning four out of seven seats.
BJP has won the Somnath, Rapar, Lathi and Himmatnagar seats while Congress bagged Visavadar, Abdasa and Mandvi Assembly segments. Assembly by-polls were held on April 30 along with Lok Sabha polls in the state.
BJP's Jasha Barad defeated Congress's Nishant Chotai in Somnath by a margin of 25,669 votes. Barad polled 86,640 votes to Chotai's tally of 60,971.
In Rapar, BJP's Pankaj Mehta defeated Congress leader Babu Meghji Shah. Mehta polled 59,165 votes while Shah got 44,151 votes.

In Lathi, BJP's Bavkubhai Undhad got the better of his nearest opponent, Congress's Hanu Bhabha, by a margin of 2,626 votes. Undhad got 59,722 votes while Bhabha polled over 57,096 votes.
In Himmatnagar, Rajendra Chavda of BJP defeated Congress's Vipul Patel by a margin of 2,562 votes. Chavda polled 81,052 votes while Patel's tally stood at 78,490.

On the other hand, Congress leader and former leader of opposition Shaktisinh Gohil defeated BJP's Chhabil Patel by a thin margin of 764 votes in Abdasa.
Patel, who switched over to BJP from Congress earlier this year, won 67,099 votes while Gohil got 67,863 votes.

Anand Chaudhary of Congress polled 91,242 votes in the Mandvi seat while BJP's Hemlata Vasava secured 68,673 votes.
In Visavadar seat, BJP nominee and former chief minister Keshubhai Patel's son Bharat Patel lost to Congress's Harshad Ribadiya. Ribadiya got 67,128 votes against the 56,868 votes secured by Patel.