Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022: Vadgam constituency in Banaskantha district is one of the keenly watched assembly seats in the assembly as MLA Jignesh Mevani, who earlier won from here as an independent candidate in the 2017 state assembly elections, now This year he is contesting as a Congress candidate. Mevani had joined the Congress party last year and was appointed the working president of the state in July this year.
The Vadgam constituency, a seat reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) communities, has a sizeable population of Dalits. Apart from Dalits, Muslims also form the largest segment of the electorate here, followed by other communities like Thakors, Darbars and Chaudharies. The Congress has won the seat in Gujarat four times since 1995.
Mevani will face a tough electoral battle in the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections to be held in two phases in early December. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Manilal Vaghela against the old party’s Mevani from here.
Vaghela has represented the Vadgam constituency as a Congress leader from 2012–2017, however, he was shifted to the Idar seat in the 2017 Gujarat Assembly elections and lost to the BJP candidate. Vaghela joined the saffron party in April this year.
Meanwhile, the new party Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded veteran Dalit activist Dalpat Bhatia from the Vadgam seat. However, AIMIM has not yet announced its candidate from here. Dalit and Muslim votes are important factors in Vadgam constituency for political parties.
Ahead of the 2017 elections, Mevani, who is also known to be a Dalit leader, appealed to other parties not to field candidates from Vadgam, saying their fight was against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Therefore, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) withdrew and supported their candidates.
Polling for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will take place on December 8.
(with inputs from agencies)
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