By-elections to Gujarat’s Visavadar and Kadi assembly seats will be held on June 19 and the results will be announced four days later, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Sunday, setting the stage for a three-way contest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
A gazette notification for the by-elections will be issued on Monday. The scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 3. The candidates can withdraw their names until June 5.
AAP lawmaker Bhupendra Bhayani’s resignation and defection to the BJP necessitated the by-poll to the Visavadar seat in the Junagadh district. The defection reduced AAP’s strength in the assembly to four, making Visavadar critical to the party’s foothold in the region. The Mehsana district’s Kadi (Scheduled Caste) seat fell vacant following lawmaker Karshanbhai Solanki’s death in February.
The AAP has named former state chief Gopal Italia as its candidate from Visavadar, banking on his advocacy for farmers and anti-corruption activism to regain the seat it won in the 2022 assembly polls.
The BJP has historically dominated Visavadar, particularly during former chief minister Keshubhai Patel’s tenure. It is yet to field a candidate. The BJP is expected to capitalise on Bhayani’s defection to wrest the seat.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP has historically dominated Visavadar, particularly during former chief minister Keshubhai Patel’s tenure. It is yet to field a candidate. The BJP is expected to capitalise on Bhayani’s defection to wrest the seat.
{{/usCountry}}The Congress will contest both seats, declining an alliance with its Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partner AAP.
Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said the INDIA bloc is at the national level, and there is no such alliance for Gujarat.
The Congress on Sunday named Geniben Thakor, its sole Lok Sabha member from Gujarat, Jignesh Mevani, Kirit Patel, and Raghu Desai as in-charges for the Kadi by-poll. Paresh Dhanani, Punjabhai Vansh, Indranil Rajyaguru, and Vasram Sagathiya will be in charge of the Visavadar seat.
An AAP leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they will also field a candidate for Kadi by-polls if the Congress has decided to contest the Visavadar seat.
The BJP hopes to retain its sway in Kadi as the Congress seeks to end the ruling party’s dominance in the reserved constituency.
The BJP swept back to power in Gujarat in 2022, securing 156 of 182 seats, even as AAP emerged as a third major party. The Congress’s seats dropped from 17 to 12 following a series of defections to the BJP.
Geniben Thakor wrested the Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat last year in a boost to the Congress, frustrating the BJP’s target of winning all 26 seats in Gujarat for a third time. The BJP won the Vaav assembly seat after Thakor vacated it.
The BJP currently has 161 in the Gujarat assembly, the Congress 12. The AAP, Samajwadi Party, and Independents have the remaining seats.
The by-polls will test AAP’s resilience, Congress’s revival strategy, and the BJP’s continued dominance in Gujarat ahead of the 2027 assembly elections.