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Gujarat election results 2017: CM Vijay Rupani wins from Rajkot West

By Deepika
|
Google Oneindia News

Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani won the Rajkot West constituency after trailing in initial trends for assembly election results on Monday.

 Vijay Rupani

Congress candidate Indranil Rajyguru, who was leading at one point in time by 6,234, failed to spring a much-anticipated surprise.

At the end, Vijay Rupani won the seat with a margin of over 25,000 votes.

Rajkot West is the most high profile seat of the Gujarat Assembly election as Chief Minister Vijay Rupani faced a tough challenge from Indranil Rajyaguru of the Congress. Hardik Patel has campaigned heavily against the BJP and this is Patel stronghold.

Rupani, 60 was banking on his network and party workers, whom he has cultivated in his three-decade-old association with the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to retain the Rajkot West seat. Rupani's wife Anjali, who is the general secretary of the BJP's woman wing, holds the fort in Rajkot West in his absence.

Rupani wields considerable influence in Saurashtra, a politically significant part of Gujarat.

The BJP has never lost Rajkot West since 1985, but the entry of Congress leader Indranil Rajyaguru, who gave up his Rajkot East seat to challenge Rupani, has made the contest interesting. Rupani has contested elections only once before, winning Rajkot West in a 2015 byelection.

About Rupani

Born in Rangoon (now Yangon, in Myanmar) to Ramniklal Rupani in 1956, Rupani grew up in Rajkot where he joined RSS as a schoolboy. He pursued BA and then LLB.

As the chairman of the state tourism corporation, he headed 'Khushbu Gujarat Ki' campaign to popularise the state as a tourist destination.

Other offices he had held include Rajkot Mayor (1996-97), member of the Rajya Sabha (2006-12) and chairman of the Gujarat Municipal Finance Board (2013).

Rupani was born in Rangoon in Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar). His family moved to Rajkot in 1960. He has an LLB degree from Saurashtra University.

Rupani started his political life in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He was a member of the Jan Sangh, and was jailed during the Emergency. He has been associated with the BJP since its founding in 1980.

His wife Anjali Rupani is also a member of the BJP. They have a son and a daughter, having earlier lost a son in an accident.

OneIndia News

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