Rebels fail to dent BJP’s prospects; harm Congress in Gujarat polls

AHMEDABAD: Of over a dozen rebel candidates who contested the Gujarat assembly poll, a few were able to cut into the votes of the ruling BJP and the Congress. However, most of these rebels got only a few hundred votes.
The independents in the fray in central Gujarat included heavyweight Dharmendrasinh Vaghela, who was the only one to win in the region.Vaghela defeated Ashwin Patel of the BJP by a comfortable margin of 14,006 votes on the Waghodia seat. The other heavyweight BJP rebel, Madhu Shrivastava, got only 14,645 votes. In Vadodara district,Dinesh Patel was in the fray from Padra, but finished third despite getting 51,109 votes. The winner, BJP’s Chaitanyasinh Zala, got 66,226 votes.
In Mahisagar, former district BJP president Jayprakash Patel spoiled BJP’s chance by polling 43,749 votes. The winner was Congress candidate Gulabsinh Chauhan who got 72,087 votes even as the BJP’s sitting MLA, Jignesh Sevak, lost the poll with 45,467 votes. Another BJP rebel on the seat, S M Khant, got 9,580 votes.
Even the AAP faced a rebellion in central Gujarat with tribal activist Babu Damor contesting as an independent after being denied a ticket. The AAP’s candidate Parvat Vagadiya got 24,554 votes and Damor polled 28,631 votes. The BJP’s sitting MLA and a minister of state, Kuber Dindor, got 49,964 votes and won against Gendal Damor of the Congress who mustered 34,387. Many believe Babu damaged the AAP’s prospects on this seat.
Dhaval Zala from Bayad polled 67,078 votes to beat his nearest rival, the BJP’s Bhikhiben Parmar. The Congress’s Mahendra Vaghela contesting on the seat got over 29,000 votes.
The BJP rebel from Deesa, Lebji Thakor, dented the prospects of the Congress candidate by polling 45,058 votes.