Gujarat assembly bypolls: 28.15 pc turnout in Visavadar, 23.85 pc in Kadi till 11 am

The Visavadar and Kadi assembly constituencies in Gujarat recorded a turnout of 28.15 per cent and 23.85 per cent, respectively, in the first four hours of voting in bypolls to the two seats on Thursday, officials said.

The polling commenced at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, they said.

People queued up in large numbers during the early hours to cast vote.

As per the latest update by the Election Commission, the Visavadar seat in Junagadh district recorded a voter turnout of 28.15 per cent by 11 am, while Kadi in Mehsana district registered 23.85 per cent polling.

The state government has declared a public holiday on Thursday in both the constituencies for voting.

The BJP, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have fielded their candidates in the two seats.

Votes are being cast through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at 294 polling stations in each constituency.

The Visavadar seat was lying vacant since December 2023, after the then AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP.

The Kadi seat, reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, fell vacant on February 4 following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki.

In the Visavadar seat, BJP candidate Kirit Patel and Congress nominee Nitin Ranpariya cast their votes in the early hours.

The AAP has fielded its former Gujarat president Gopal Italia from Visavadar. He is not registered as a voter in the constituency.

Despite its near-total dominance in the state, the BJP has not won the Visavadar seat since 2007. The party leaders are this time hopeful of overcoming the 18-year jinx.

In the last assembly election in 2022, AAP's Bhupendra Bhayani defeated BJP's Harshad Ribadiya, a Congress turncoat and former MLA, by 7,063 votes.

The BJP has fielded Rajendra Chavda from Kadi, while the Congress has given ticket to Ramesh Chavda, a former MLA.

Ramesh Chavda won the seat in 2012, but lost it to BJP's Karsanbhai Solanki in 2017.

Like Visavadar, the Kadi seat will also witness a three-way fight, with the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP fielding Jagdish Chavda.

Votes will be counted on June 23.

In the 182-member Gujarat assembly, the BJP has 161 legislators, Congress 12 and AAP four. While one seat is with the Samajwadi Party, two are with independents.