Junagadh: BJP banks on devpt; Congr upbeat post 2017 poll show

The Junagadh Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat has been a BJP bastion since 1991, but the saffron party is not going to have it easy this time going by the results of the 2017 assembly polls.

The Congress has won the Lok Sabha constituency in the Saurashtra region only once in the last 28 years - in 2004 - but the opposition party is banking on its performance in the assembly polls to snatch the seat from the BJP.

In the 2017 elections, the ruling party had lost all the seven assembly segments that are part of the parliamentary constituency to the Congress in the backdrop of issues like rural distress, water scarcity and low prices of agriculture products.

The BJP has renominated its sitting MP Rajesh Chudasama, who will take on Congress MLA Punja Vansh. The two were pitted against each other in 2014 also, with Chudasama emerging the winner by a margin of over 1.35 lakh votes.

Chudasama seeks to improve the 2014 victory margin this time on the ground that he helped set up a civil hospital in Junagadh and set a long-planned ropeway project on the Mount Girnar on city's outskirts rolling.

The sitting MP also has to his credit some road projects along the coastal region of Junagadh.

The party is also highlighting the achievements of the Narendra Modi government.

Local BJP leader Sanjay Manvar said, "Any shortcomings will be ignored by people as they would like to vote for Narendra Modi and see him continue as the prime minister."
The BJP believes the Patidar agitation has lost steam now and will not impact its prospects