Jasdan by-election results LIVE: Counting begins
Ahmedabad, Dec 23: The results for the high stakes assembly by-polls in Jasdan in Gujarat will be declared today. The results would put to test the BJP's strategy in the Saurashtra region ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
A defeat for the BJP could put it on the back foot as it was in this region that the party suffered a major setback in the 2017 assembly elections. The battle is between Kunvarji Bavaliya quit the Congress to join the BJP. He is up against Avsar Nakiya of the Congress.
Continue to watch this space as we bring you the results of the high stake battle LIVE:
First round of vote counting begins at Model school in Jasdan.
The counting for Jasdan assembly by-poll in Gujarat began amid tight security. The contest is being keenly watched by the Congress and the ruling BJP against the backdrop of the saffron party's debacle in three core Hindi states in recent assembly elections.
Counting is underway for the Jasdan by-elections
The bypoll, which was held on December 20, is mainly a bipolar contest between Kunvarji Bavaliya, a state Cabinet minister of the BJP and influential leader of the Koli community from the area, and Avsar Nakiya of the Congress.
Nakiya, a Rajkot district panchayat member who had once worked closely with Bavaliya, a five-time MLA, contested the assembly election for first time in his life.
The constituency has 2.32 lakh registered voters.
Bavaliya had won the seat on Congress ticket in 1995, 1998, 2002, 2007 and 2017.
Since the formation of Gujarat in 1960, the BJP has won this seat only once - in the by-election held in 2009 when Bavaliya vacated the seat after being elected to Lok Sabha from Rajkot.
Apart from Bavaliya and Nakiya, six other candidates are also in the fray.
Bavaliya is a four time MLA from Jasdan. He says he is confident of a win, but the Congress says that the people will not elect a deserter.
In the 2017 poll, the BJP faced a tough challenge and also lost ground to the Congress in Saurashtra. Issues such as farm distress and unemployment helped the Congress win 79 seats in 2017. In the 2012 election, the Congress had won 61.
The by-polls in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes in the wake of a drubbing the BJP got in the recent state elections. The BJP lost to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.