- The ruling BJP has fielded Rajendra Chavda from Kadi and Kiritbhai Patel from Visavadar for the June 19 bypolls
- Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has already fielded Jagdish Chavda from Kadi and Gopal Italia from Visavadar
- This will be a trailer of the 2026 Assembly polls in Gujarat as it is being held after Operation Sindoor, which has boosted the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, JUNE 2
It will be a three-pronged fight in Kadi and Visavadar assembly seats in Gujarat as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), opposition parties Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have fielded candidates for the bypoll. This will be a trailer of the 2026 Assembly polls in Gujarat as it is being held after Operation Sindoor, which has boosted the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress party on Monday declared Ramesh Chavda and Nitin Ranpariya as its candidates from Kadi and Visavadar assembly constituencies, respectively.
“Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approved the candidature of Nitin Ranpariya as Congress candidate for the upcoming Assembly by-election to Visavadar constituency,” the party said in an official release.
Chavda is a former Congress MLA from Kadi assembly seat in Mehsana district.
Ranpariya, who had served as a member of the Junagadh district panchayat, is fighting the assembly election for the first time. Nitin Ranpariya is the president of Visavadar Youth Congress. The announcement of his candidature comes on the last day of filing nominations.
The ruling BJP has fielded Rajendra Chavda from Kadi and Kiritbhai Patel from Visavadar for the June 19 bypolls. According to political pundits, it will be a cakewalk for the ruling party as AAP will divide the votebank of the Congress and Modi factor will come handy for it.
It will be a three-pronged fight in these seats as Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP has already fielded Jagdish Chavda from Kadi and Gopal Italia from Visavadar.
Monday is the last day for filing nominations, and the counting of votes will take place on June 23.
In the 182-member Gujarat assembly, the BJP has 161 legislators, Congress has 12 and AAP has four, while one seat is with the Samajwadi Party and two are with independents.
In the upcoming by-elections for five seats in four states, two constituencies of Gujarat – Kadi and Visavadar will see polling on June 19.
The electoral fray for Visavadar seat is set to get interesting as BJP’s Kirit Patel and Aam Aadmi Party’s Gopal Italia are the other contesting candidates.
Gopal Italia is former Gujarat AAP president and a well-known face in state politics while BJP’s Kirit Patel is also former district president of the party.
The by-election in Kadi was necessitated due to the demise of sitting BJP MLA Karshan Solanki in February, this year. He was a prominent Scheduled Caste leader in the region and had held the seat since 2017.
In Visavadar, the need for by-elections arose because of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Bhupendra Bhayani quitting his post in December 2023 and subsequently switching over to BJP.
Both the constituencies of Gujarat are likely to see high-voltage contest, with parties launching a high-pitched campaign in the coming days. The elections will be closely watched as they will give a fair indication of either shifting political ground or BJP’s further consolidation in the state, ahead of bigger poll battles in the state.
Voting for by-elections to both the assemblies will be held on June 19. The results of the by-elections will be declared on June 23.
