Visavadar bypoll result: AAP’s Gopal Italia wins in Gujarat

AAP’s Gopal Italia on Monday (June 23) won the Visavadar Assembly bypoll in Gujarat. He defeated the BJP’s Kirit Patel by over 17,500 votes.

Congress candidate Nitin Ranpariya forfeited his deposit, finishing third in the seat behind Italia and Patel.

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The bypoll, held on June 19, witnessed 56.89 per cent in Visavadar constituency located in Junagadh district, officials said.

Seat vacant after Bhayani resigns

The Visavadar seat fell vacant in December 2023 after the then AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP.

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Despite its near-total dominance in the state, the BJP has not won the Visavadar seat since 2007. Party leaders had hoped of overcoming the 18-year jinx this time, but could not.

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.

Major boost for AAP

Italia's win in Visavadar is a major boost for the AAP as it comes months after the party's Delhi debacle. Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and several other senior party leaders had campaigned extensively in Visavadar for Italia making it a prestige battle for their party.

For the Congress, the crippling defeat in Visavadar should come as a shocker given that the party had, in April, reaffirmed its pledge of reviving itself in the state with Rahul Gandhi also launching a pilot project for Congress's grassroots revitalisation through empowering district party units and selecting DCC chiefs through a process of public surveys and cadre feedback.