From Highest Voter Turnout In Tribal-Dominated Seat To Morbi Hero's Win, Gujarat Assembly Elections See BJP's Record-Breaking Win

In a record-breaking win during the Gujarat assembly elections of 2022, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious for the seventh consecutive year, securing 156 seats of the total 182-member assembly. The party bagged 52.52 per cent of the total votes to register a sweeping victory in the state.

Big Win, Bigger Numbers

The previous high of Congress winning 149 seats in the 1985 assembly elections was surpassed by BJP's recent win. A BJP stronghold, the Gujarat assembly election has seen BJP register clear wins since 1995.

While Congress won 17 seats, AAP became a national party after winning six seats. The party required a six per cent vote share in at least four states and had already established the required number of vote share in Delhi, Punjab and Goa.

Bhupendra Patel will be sworn into a second term as Gujarat's chief minister on December 12, the party said on Thursday, reported The Economic Times. According to C R Patil, state BJP president, the swearing-in event will occur on Monday at 2 p.m. in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Highest Voter Turnout At Tribal-Dominated District

The voter base for the elections of 182 constituencies spread over 33 districts, and the total voter turnout was recorded at 64.33 per cent. It is 4.08 per cent lower than the 2017 Assembly elections which recorded a 68.41 per cent voter turnout.

The Election Commission of India's data reveals that out of the 4.91 crore eligible voters, only 3.16 voters cast their vote. Of these, 1.69 crores or 66.74 per cent were men, 1.46 crores or 61.75 per cent were females, and 445 voters belonged to the 'third gender' category, The Hindu reported.

While the tribal-dominated Narmada district registered the highest voter turnout at 78.42 per cent, the lowest voter turnout of 57.59 per cent was registered at Saurashtra's Botad district.

This election had 5,01,202 NOTA votes, nine per cent less than the 5,51,594 votes cast in the 2017 Assembly election. Khedbrahma had the most NOTA votes, followed by Danta (5,213) and Chhota Udaipur (5,093).

Morbi Hero Wins Elections

Most leaders who left Congress in 2017 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the 2022 elections. Most of the 37 leaders who joined the party after leaving Congress were already serving as MLAs. Thirty-four of them, including prominent Koli leader and six-time MLA Kunvarji Bavalia (Jasdan), OBC leader Alpesh Thakor (Gandhinagar South), and Patidar leader Hardik Patel (Viramgam), won elections.

Kanti Amrutiya, a five-time MLA who displayed courage by leaping into the Machchhu river to rescue the victims of the Morbi bridge collapse that claimed 135 lives, won the Morbi constituency. Amrutiya defeated Jayanti Patel, a candidate for Congress by 16,000 votes and Aam Aadmi Party's Pankaj Ransariya by 6,000 votes, reported India Today.

Bilkis Bano, a victim of the 2002 riots, formerly resided in the Limkheda constituency of Gujarat's Dahod district. In the election campaign, the premature release of 11 prisoners in the Bilkis Bano case became an issue, and Congress promised to ensure justice for her in its manifesto. However, BJP MLA Shailesh Bhabhor won the seat after defeating Naresh Baria of the Aam Aadmi Party by 4,000 votes.

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