Gujarat Elections

LS polls: Voting begins for 25 seats in Gujarat, BJP looks to repeat sweep

Polling began Tuesday morning for 25 of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, and for bypolls in five assembly constituencies in the state. Voting began at 50,788 polling booths across the state at 7 am and will end at 6 pm, an official said. The BJP has already drawn first blood with Mukesh Dalal winning the Surat Lok Sabha seat unopposed after the nomination of the Congress' Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected over irregularities in the signature of proposers and other candidates withdrew. The BJP is looking to repeat its sweep of 2014 and 2019 in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Modi and Shah will cast their votes at booths in Ahmedabad city that fall under Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat. Modi will exercise his franchise at a booth in Nishan Public School in Ranip locality, while Shah will vote at Naranpura sub-zonal office in the city. As per poll officials, a total of 4.97 crore persons, comprising 2.56 crore males, 2.41 crore females and ..

2024 Lok Sabha elections: Make in India and a tale of two cities

A drive around 2,200 hectares (22 million sq m) in the Sanand-GIDC hub took this reporter from one brand to another, one sector to another

Modi starts election campaign in Gujarat today, to hold rallies in 11 seats

On Gujarat's Foundation Day, he will address two public gatherings: one in Deesa, located in Banaskantha, and another in Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha

Ahead of LS elections, Gujarat govt transfers, promotes 35 IPS officers

The Gujarat government on Sunday promoted and transferred 35 Indian Police Service officers amid the code of conduct in force for the Lok Sabha polls. Important cities like Surat and Vadodara got new police commissioners due to the exercise. Vadodara police commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot was made Surat police commissioner, while additional director general of police (administration), Gandhinagar, Narashima Komar replaced him. IPS officers Manoj Agarwal, K L N Rao, G S Malik and Hasmukh Patel were promoted from ADG to Director General of Police rank though they will continue to hold current posts, as per the government order. A total of 20 IPS officers have been promoted by the Gujarat government. Chirag Koradia, who was awaiting posting has been appointed as Inspector General (IG) of Police Border Range, while J R Mothaliya, who too was awaiting posting, will be new IG (Ahmedabad range). IPS officer Prem Vir Singh has been made IG (Surat Range). Tarun Duggal, deputy ...

Gujarat officials to send over 2 mn invites to voters to increase turnout

Election authorities in Gujarat will dispatch more than 20 lakh invites to voters, particularly women, across the state in their attempt to increase voter turnout in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, officials said on Friday. The initiative will target over 13,000 polling stations where the difference between men and women voters remains at over 10 per cent, and where the overall voter turnout was less than 50 per cent during the last legislative elections, an official release said. Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer P Bharathi will extend the invitation to about 20.3 lakh voters, mainly women, urging them to participate in the ensuing general elections, it said, adding that families will be requested to vote together. The 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will go to polls in the third phase on May 7. In the 2019 parliamentary elections, Gujarat registered a voter turnout of 64.11 per cent, compared to the national average of 67.40 per cent. The Chief Electoral Officer has appealed to wo

Women candidates of BJP, Cong heat up LS poll campaign in Guj's Banaskantha

Banaskantha is the only Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat where both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Congress have fielded women candidates. Two-term MLA Geniben Thakor of the Congress will take on BJP's Rekha Chaudhary, an engineering professor making her poll debut, in the upcoming parliamentary polls. Thakor defeated the then Gujarat minister and senior BJP leader Shankar Chaudhary in the 2017 assembly polls and Swarupji Thakor of the saffron party in 2022. Known for advocacy of women's rights, Thakor had in 2020 said "rapists must be burnt alive rather than being handed over to police," after the alleged rape of a 14-month-old girl in Gujarat. She was one of the 17 Congress candidates who managed to bag seats in the 2022 Gujarat assembly polls, which were won by the BJP with a record mandate. Rekha Chaudhary's grandfather Galbabhai Chaudhary founded the Banas Dairy, which procures milk from 4.5 lakh farmers every day, an initiative which has ope

LS elections: Congress, AAP come together to put up tough fight in Gujarat

The Congress-Aam Aadmi Party tie-up in Gujarat is hoping to challenge the electoral hegemony of the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, while the ruling party is confident the opposition alliance will not affect its prospects. The Congress-AAP alliance this time aims to give a tough fight and stop the division of anti-BJP votes. In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won all 26 seats parliamentary seats in Gujarat, which is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, garnering more than 60 per cent of the vote share in both the elections. In the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections, the Congress and the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP contested separately, resulting in the division of opposition votes and leading the BJP to a huge win by bagging 156 out of the 182 seats in the state. The BJP received around 51 per cent of the votes, the Congress secured 27.5 per cent votes and 17 seats, while the AAP got around 13 per cent votes and five seats. A .

Cong leader Rahul resumes 'Nyay Yatra', heads towards Gujarat's Panchmahal

On the second day of the Gujarat leg of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday resumed his journey from Dahod town and headed towards Godhra in adjoining Panchmahal district where he will address people. Rahul Gandhi's yatra entered the state from Rajasthan on Thursday. After addressing people at Jhalod town of Dahod District, he stayed overnight at a village in the area. On Friday morning, Gandhi visited Kamboi Dham near Jhalod to pay his respects to tribal icon Govind Guru. Later, when the yatra resumed from Dahod town on Friday morning, Congress workers and locals greeted him on the route. Tribals also gathered at a traffic roundabout and performed their traditional dance to greet the opposition leader, who reciprocated by waving back to them while sitting in an open-roof SUV. He also cut a large cake which was presented to him by women Congress workers on the occasion of International Women's Day, which is celebrated on March 8 every year. Gandhi is

AAP will perform poorly in MP polls just as it did in Gujarat: Vijayvargiya

The Aam Aadmi Party will face a repeat of its Gujarat electoral performance in Madhya Pradesh, where assembly elections are due by the year-end, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya has claimed. The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, which now governs Delhi and Punjab, has declared that it would contest in all 230 constituencies across MP. In the run-up to the Gujarat assembly elections last year, the AAP ran a high-decibel campaign but could win only five seats in the 182-member House. The BJP won a record 156 seats. Kejriwal had made big promises (to voters) in Gujarat as well, but I think his party lost deposits on 90 per cent of the seats there. (For AAP) there will be a repetition of their Gujarat poll situation in Madhya Pradesh, Vijayvargiya told reporters late on Monday night. The BJP leader also hit out at Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh, who recently alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to create communal riots in MP like Haryana's Nuh. Vijayvargi

New parties came to Gujarat, were wiped out: Amit Shah taunts AAP

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday targeted the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying that new parties came to Gujarat, made tall claims and promised guarantees ahead of the Assembly elections, but were wiped out after the results. In a virtual address to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Surat, he also said that the party's landslide victory in the state proves that Gujarat was and will always remain the saffron outfit's stronghold. "New parties came to Gujarat, made tall claims and gave guarantees, but after the election results they were wiped out," Shah said. In the recently-concluded Gujarat Assembly elections, the BJP scripted history by winning 156 out of the total 182 seats. The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, which ran a high-decibel campaign and made several poll promises, managed to win only five seats, while the Congress party finished second by bagging 17 seats. "This historic win (of the BJP) gave a message to the country that Gujarat was, is and will always be BJP's ...

PM Modi felicitated at BJP meeting over record-breaking win in Gujarat

The jubilation in the BJP over its record-breaking win in the Gujarat polls echoed in its parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was felicitated for the victory. The prime minister, in turn, heaped praised on the state unit, especially its president C R Paatil and said the victory is owed to the BJP's organisational strength, Union minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters after the meeting. Party sources added that Modi said the Gujarat unit of the BJP is an example of how poll win is possible if the party organisation is strong. The prime minister's high praise for Paatil, a close confidant of him, underlines his rising stock within the party. Modi also praised party's national president J P Nadda. In his speech, Modi also spoke of India's G-20 presidency and asked MPs to come out with innovative ideas to involve people in organising various events across the country in the run up to the summit meeting next year. With numerous foreign delegates expe

PM Modi holds roadshow in Ahmedabad after BJP's landslide win in Gujarat

BJP swept the Gujarat Assembly election with a whopping 156 seats, which is the highest number of seats any party has won after the formation of the state in the year 1960

Bhupendra Patel to take oath for his second term as Gujarat CM today

Patel will be administered the oath as the 18th Chief Minister by Governor Acharya Devvrat in Gandhinagar at 2 pm

22% Gujarat MLAs have criminal cases; BJP's Rivaba Jadeja among the richest

As many as 22 per cent winning candidates or 40 out of the total 182 in the recently concluded Gujarat Assembly elections have criminal cases against their names, according to an analysis by ADR

Amit Shah's 'taught a lesson' remark not violative of poll code: Report

Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remark at an election rally in Gujarat that perpetrators of violence were "taught a lesson" in 2002 was not violative of the model code of conduct, Election Commission sources said on Saturday. After going through the report of the state chief electoral officer and seeking legal opinion, the poll panel concluded that referring to taking action against "miscreants" was not violative of the provisions of the poll code. A former bureaucrat had moved the poll panel over the statement Shah made at an election rally in Mahudha town of Kheda district last month. In the rally, Shah had said, "During the Congress rule in Gujarat (before 1995), communal riots were rampant. Congress used to incite people of different communities and castes to fight against each other. Through such riots, Congress strengthened its vote bank and did injustice to a large section of the society." He had claimed that Gujarat witnessed riots in 2002 because the perpetrators became ..

Patel to continue as Guj CM, elected leader of BJP legislative party

Bhupendra Patel will continue as the chief minister of Gujarat for a second straight term with the newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs electing him as the leader of the legislative party during a meeting here on Saturday. Patel's name was declared as the leader of the legislative party unanimously at the meeting held at the party's state headquarters 'Kamalam'. "The newly-elected MLAs met today at 'Kamalam,' where the proposal to name Bhupendra Patel as the chief minister of Gujarat was unanimously approved," the BJP said in a statement. Patel, 60, had resigned as the chief minister along with his entire cabinet on Friday to pave the way for formation of a new government in the state after the BJP registered a landslide victory in the just concluded Assembly elections. Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, B S Yediyurappa and Arjun Munda were present for the meeting as the party's central observers. Patel won a second straight term from the Ghatlodia Assembly seat in Ahmed

Newly-elected Guj BJP MLAs meet begins to choose legislative party leader

A meeting of the newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs in Gujarat began here on Saturday to pick a new legislative party leader, who will take over as the next chief minister of the state. The meeting is underway at the BJP's state headquarters 'Kamalam'. Bhupendra Patel, 60, on Friday resigned as the chief minister along with his entire cabinet to pave the way for formation of a new government in the state after the ruling BJP won a landslide victory in the just concluded Assembly elections. Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, B S Yediyurappa and Arjun Munda are present for the meeting as the party's central observers. The meeting to pick a new leader is said to be just a formality as the party has already announced that Patel, who won a second straight term from the Ghatlodia Assembly seat in Ahmedabad district by 1.92 lakh votes, will remain the chief minister. Patel had replaced Vijay Rupani as Gujarat chief minister in September last year. The party has already announ

Congress' Imran Khedawala lone Muslim MLA in new Gujarat Assembly

Imran Khedawala of the Congress is the only Muslim candidate to be elected to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly in the just concluded polls, which saw the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win a landslide victory. The outgoing Assembly had three Muslim legislators, all from the Congress. Khedawala, the sitting Congress MLA from the Jamalpur-Khadia Assembly constituency in Ahmedabad city, won the election by a margin of 13,658 votes on Thursday to retain the seat. He defeated his nearest rival, Bhushan Bhatt of the BJP, in the Muslim majority constituency, where state president of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and former MLA Sabir Kabliwala was also in the fray. The Congress had fielded six Muslim candidates, including three siting MLAs. Of these, five candidates, including two MLAs, lost. In 2017, three of five candidates from the minority community fielded by the main Opposition party had emerged victorious. Muslims account for around 10 per cent of Gujarat's

Cong forced to look for existence after BJP's record win in Guj: Scindia

The Congress has been "forced" to look for its existence after the record victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the just concluded Gujarat Assembly polls, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday. The BJP has won 156 seats in the 182-member Assembly in the western state, the highest tally garnered by any party in Gujarat's 62-year-old history. The Opposition Congress managed to emerge victorious on just 17 seats, down from 77 it had won in 2017. "Today, the condition of Congress is such that it is forced to look for its existence," Scindia, who arrived here to take part in various programmes, told reporters. Speaking about Assembly poll result in Himachal Pradesh, another state where elections were held recently, he said though the Congress has got a majority in the 68-member House and unseated the BJP, the difference in vote share between the two parties was miniscule. "Earlier, whenever governments changed in Himachal Pradesh, the difference in vote share woul

Gujarat: Month after bridge collapse, BJP wins Morbi by over 62k votes

The collapse of a suspension bridge in Gujarat's Morbi town that claimed 135 lives did not affect the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) winning streak in the constituency as its candidate won by more than 62,000 votes. Five-time MLA Kantilal Amrutiya's victory margin on Thursday was almost 15 times that of Brijesh Merja who had won by 4,600 votes in the 2020 byelection on a BJP ticket. This time, Amrutiya managed to win more than 1.14 lakh votes, while his closest rival, the Congress's Jayantilal Patel, received 52,000 and the Aam Aadmi Party's Pankaj Ransariya got nearly 17,500 votes. Amrutiya shot to nationwide fame when videos showing him jumping into the river to rescue people after the bridge collapse on October 30 went viral. He was hailed as Morbi hero. While Amrutiya had won from Morbi five times in the past (he had lost in 2017 and 2020), Congress's Jayantilal Patel had lost five times to his BJP rivals earlier. The contest turned triangular this time with the AAP fielding .