The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday won both Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat unopposed after by-elections were necessitated following the demise of Congress leader Ahmed Patel and BJP leader Abhay Bhardwaj.
Dinesh Anavadiya and Ram Mokariya of the BJP won the two seats. Anavadiya is the state's BJP OBC Morcha president and Mokariya is the founder-chairman of a courier company. Anavadiya, a senior party leader from Banaskantha district, has served as the director of the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation between 2014-17. While Mokariya said he has remained a dedicated party worker for over four decades.
The Rajya Sabha terms of Patel and Bhardwaj were to end in August 2023 and June 2026, respectively. However, both Patel and Bharadwaj died of COVID-19- related complications on November 25, 2020 and December 1, respectively.
The BJP and Congress have 111 and 65 MLAs in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, respectively.
(With PTI inputs)