Even as
Congress put up a decent show in the
Gujarat assembly polls, two former state party presidents, a national spokesperson and a former Union minister lost their seats, creating a big embarrassment for the party.
Shaktisinh Gohil, former state minister and national spokesperson, lost from Mandvi in Kutch — a seat he shifted to for the first time. He had moved from Abdasa, about 30km from Mandvi, following fears of a loss there. Gohil lost by around 10,000 votes from Mandvi, which was considered to be a favourable seat for Congress given its high population of Muslims. Gohil was even a contender for the top post if his party had won the polls.
Former Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia, lost the Porbandar seat by about 1,855 votes to BJP minister Babu Bokhiriya. One of the most active leaders in Congress, Modhwadia has been a vocal critic of PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.
The third victim was
Siddharth Patel, one of the few senior
Patidar leaders in Gujarat Congress and in-charge of his party's poll campaign. The former Gujarat Congress chief lost by a margin of around 2,839 votes to "outsider" Shailesh Mehta alias 'Sotta' of BJP. This is his second straight defeat after losing the same seat in 2012.
Patel, son of former CM Chimanbhai Patel, was also a key member of the team that negotiated with Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (
PAAS) and its leader Hardik Patel.
The son of another former CM (Amarsinh Chaudhary), former Union minister Tushar Chaudhary, too bit the dust on the tribal seat Mahuva by 6,433 votes.
Shah took a dig at the electoral losses of senior Congress leaders. "Congress tried to misguide the people of Gujarat and win elections by outsourcing. As a result, all their top leaders have lost," he said.
