Vav ( Banaskantha) : Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP has won the Vav assembly by-poll by 2353 votes. BJP has captured this seat after two terms of defeats. The seat was previously occupied by Congress leader Geniben Thakor. She vacated this assembly seat as she was elected to the Lok Sabha and she wished to retain the Lok Sabha seat. BJP candidate Swaroopji Thakor has emerged as victorious candidate against his nearest rival candidate Congress’s Gulabsinh Rajput and rebel BJP independent candidate Mavjibhai Patel at the end of all 23 rounds of counting. With this BJP will have 162 seats in the 182-seat State assembly, in which one seat of Visavdar is vacant. The BJP had won 156 seats in the year 2022 State assembly elections. It has upgraded its tally to 162 seats now with victory in Vav. DeshGujarat

At the end of all 23 rounds of counting

Earlier

– At 11 am, after 6 out of 23 rounds of counting, Congress candidate Gulabsinh Rajput is leading with 29,689 votes, holding a margin of 7,611 votes over BJP candidate Swarupji Thakor, who has received 22,076 votes.

Officials confirmed that the vote counting began at 8 am at an engineering college in Jagana village, with 160 election staff and 400 Gujarat police and CAPF personnel deployed for security. The Vav bypoll was called following the resignation of Congress MLA Geniben Thakor, who joined the Lok Sabha in June.

Candidates Contesting in the Vav By-Election

A total of 10 candidates are competing for the vacant Vav Assembly seat. The contenders are: Chetankumar Keshavlal Oza (Bhartiya Jan Parishad), Gulabsinh Pirabhai Rajput (Indian National Congress), Thakor Swarupji Sardarji (Bharatiya Janata Party), and independent candidates Harijan Vikrambhai Nagjibhai, Jayendra Karshanbhai Rathod, Laxmiben Sureshbhai Thakor, Madhu Nirupaben Natvarlal, Manjuben Vaghaji Rathod, Manojbhai Ranabhai Parmar, and BJP rebel Patel Mavjibhai Chatarabhai.

In comparison, only six candidates contested in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections for the Vav seat, where Geniben Thakor (INC) defeated Swarupji Thakor (BJP) by a margin of 15,601 votes, securing 45.26% of the total votes polled.

Vav: A Rural Assembly Constituency in Banaskantha District

Vav is a rural Assembly constituency located in Banaskantha district in North Gujarat. It falls under the Banaskantha (General) Lok Sabha constituency and is classified as a general seat. The Chief Electoral Officer’s office reported a voter turnout of 70.55%, with 2.19 lakh out of 3.10 lakh registered voters casting their votes at 321 polling booths using EVMs and VVPAT machines.

The election process began with the gazette notification issued on October 18, 2024. Voting took place on November 13, 2024, with the vote counting scheduled for November 23, 2024. In the 2022 elections, Vav had a voter turnout of 68.71% from an electorate of 3,02,189. The constituency comprises Vav Taluka, Bhabhar Taluka, and parts of Santalpur Taluka, including Kesargadh village in Banaskantha and Patan districts. DeshGujarat