What the win in Jasdan means to the BJP

Ahmedabad, Dec 24: The BJP took its tally to a 100 in the Gujarat assembly after winning the Jasdan by-poll comfortably. Kunvarji Bavaliya defeated his nearest rival Avsar Nakiya of the Congress by a margin of 19,979 votes.

The result is an important one for the BJP considering this was a Congress stronghold. Incidentally the by-poll was necessitated after Bavaliya quit the Congress and joined the BJP.

First and foremost the BJP would be happy since it touched the 100 mark in the 182 member Gujarat assembly. Moreover, the fact that Bavaliya swung it for the BJP in a Congress stronghold could be an indicator that a similar modus operandi would be used in future.

Bavaliya also managed to increase his victory margin on this seat which he had won on a Congress ticket in 2017. In 2017, Bavaliya had won this seat by a margin of 9,277 votes.
Moreover this is only the second time that the BJP is winning the Jasdan seat, since the formation of Gujarat in 1960.

The by-poll had become a matter of prestige for both parties. The Congress after its victories in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan had said that it was the farmers who had backed them as the BJP had failed to address their issues. The win in Jasdan in this context is important considering that fact that it consists of several rural areas.