The
2024 general elections will be held in India in seven phases starting on April 19 and concluding on June 1. Voting for the
2024 Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take place in a single phase on May 7. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Gujarat, which has 26 parliamentary constituencies, is expected to play a key role in determining the outcome of polls for the Lower House of the Parliament.
Considered a stronghold of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the state has witnessed a saffron sweep in the last two Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, the BJP secured a victory across all the 26 seats in the state with a 62.21% vote share.
Of the 26 seats in Gujarat, two are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates and four for Scheduled Tribes (ST). In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is eyeing another clean sweep in the state, while Congress and Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are part of the Opposition's INDIA bloc.
Here's a look at the
Lok Sabha seats to watch out for in Gujarat:
GandhinagarA BJP bastion, this urban seat sent stalwarts like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani to Parliament. In the 2019 polls, Amit Shah contested from here and defeated the rival Congress candidate, CJ Chavda, by over 5.57 lakh votes.
RajkotThe BJP has secured consistent wins from this seat since 1989, except for the 2009 polls when Congress’ Kunvarji Bavalia defeated BJP's Kirankumar Patel. In the last two general elections, this seat was represented by BJP's Mohan Kundariya in Parliament. However, this time, the party has fielded Union Minister Parshottam Rupala from this constituency.
PorbandarYet another BJP stronghold, this seat has a large number of Leuva Patidars, a sub-caste of the electorally and numerically strong Patel community. Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, a Leuva Patidar, will be representing the BJP from this seat in the 2024 polls. He hails from Gujarat's Bhavnagar district and has so far reached the Parliament through the Rajya Sabha route.
SuratSurat, the world’s diamond polishing hub, has embraced the BJP since 1989. In the last three general elections, Union Minister Darshana Jardosh has been elected from this seat, having won in 2014 and 2019 by a margin of over 5 lakh votes. The seat earlier sent former Prime Minister Morarji Desai and veteran BJP leader Kashiram Rana to the Lok Sabha. Desai, the first non-Congress PM of India, won from this seat five times, including in the post-Emergency polls of 1977.
BharuchBJP leader Mansukh Vasava has been winning from this seat since 1999. Before him, Chandubhai Deshmukh represented the party from here for a long time. Last time, Vasava won by a margin of 3.3 lakh votes, defeating Congress candidate Sherkhan Pathan.
In the 2024 elections, this predominantly tribal seat will see Mansukh Vasava contesting against AAP's Dediapada MLA Chaitar Vasava. The Bharuch parliamentary constituency has also been represented by Congress leader, late Ahmed Patel in the past.
VadodaraVadodara was represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. However, later in the by-elections, BJP's Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt won from this seat. In the last general elections, she won by over 5.89 lakh votes. The constituency has been a BJP stronghold since 1998.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
First Published: Mar 21, 2024 11:25 AM IST
