Can Hardik Patel, who switched to BJP from Congress, win Viramgam constituency?
Hardik Patel is contesting against Congress' Lakha Bharwad and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Amarsinh Thakore in Viramgam.
Gujarat's Viramgam constituency battle is the first electoral test for the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel after he switched sides from Congress to the saffron party in June. Patel is contesting against Congress' Lakha Bharwad - who is an OBC candidate and the sitting MLA from Viramgam for two terms, and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Amarsinh Thakore - who comes from the most dominant community in Viramgam.
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Meanwhile, a total of 2,71,108 people voted in the Viramgam constituency - out of which 1,40,867 were male voters, while 1,30,235 were female voters.
In 2017, 22 candidates contested for the Viramgam assembly constituency seat. This was one of the 77 seats won by Congress in the state. The 2017 elections were a close contest with Congress' Bharwad Lakhabhai Bhikhabhai who won the seat by upstaging BJP's Dr. Tejshriben Dilipkumar Patel by a margin of just 6,548 votes. The top two candidates had split 79.6% of the votes between them.
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While Congress' Bhikhabhai secured a total of 76,178 votes, BJP's Patel got 69,630 votes. Independent bagged Jadav Dhruvkumar Bavalbhai bagged 12,069 votes to finish in third place.
In the 2012 elections, Congress' Patel Tejashreeben Dilipkumar had outperformed BJP's Pragjibhai Naranbhai by 16,983 votes.