BJP vs Congress

As the Lok Sabha elections inch closer, both the national parties, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, have fielded substantial numbers of candidates from majorly all the states across the nation, including Gujarat.

While the BJP released an extensive list of 22 candidates from the state, Congress fielded their 7 leaders.

BJP Vs Congress battle in Gujarat

Porbandar - Lalit Vasoya Vs Mansukh Mandaviya

Among the highly abuzz seats in the state is Porbandar, where union minister for health and family welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya, will take a head-on contest with stalwart state Congress leader, Lalit Vasoya.

Mandaviya will contest the general elections for the first time, replacing Ramesh Dhaduk from the seat. The minister has been a Palitana MLA in 2002, and was later elected to Rajya Sabha from the state twice, in 2012 and 2018.

Congress leader and former MLA from Dhoraji, an assembly seat near Porbandar, Lalit Vasoya will be eyeing to give a fierce competition to the BJP minister. The party held this assembly seat until their former MLA Arjun Modhwadia switched to the opposite faction.

Banaskantha - Geni Thakor Vs Dr Rekha Chaudhary

This constituency, situated in North Gujarat, brought the Congress party the most number of seats in the 2022 assembly elections. Congress holds the Vav, Vadgam (SC), Danta (ST), and Kankrej seats in this district.

Considering this hold, the party has fielded a local stalwart leader and sitting Vav MLA, Geni Thakor. Thakor is a two-time MLA from her assembly seat, having defeated BJP’s Shankar Chaudhary in 2017.

Meanwhile, the BJP has fielded the state North zone convenor and Sabarkantha BJP chief, Dr Rekha Chaudhary. Chaudhary, a professor, is a turncoat, who switched to the saffron party in 2017.

Ahmedabad East - Rohan Gupta Vs Hasmukh Patel

Ahmedabad East has been under BJP’s hold since long, represented by leaders like Harin Pathak, Paresh Rawal, and the sitting MP Hasmukh Patel.

Looking at this trend, the party has again fielded Patel.

Congress has nominated former chairperson of the party’s social media department and its national spokesperson, Rohan Gupta.

Ahmedabad West (SC) - Bharat Makvana Vs Dinesh Makvana

The Ahmedabad West, a seat reserved for the Scheduled Tribe, will see the departure of the three-time MP, Kirit Solanki.

Replacing him for the party’s candidature this time is former AMC (Amdavad Municipal Corporation) deputy mayor, and the city spokesperson, Dinesh Makvana.

Congress has opted for fielding Bharat Makvana, the son of former Sojitra MLA and minister of state for agriculture, Yogendra Makvana.

Valsad (ST) - Anant Patel Vs Dhawal Patel

The BJP swept the Valsad district in the assembly elections, which also houses the state’s finance minister, Kanu Desai, from the Pardi seat.

Keeping the seat’s tribal classification in mind, the BJP has fielded the National social media in-charge of the BJP Schedule Tribe Morcha, Dhawal Patel from this seat.

Meanwhile, Congress has opted to contest this seat by nominating Anant Patel, a sitting MLA from another Scheduled Tribe reserved seat, Vansda.

Bardoli (ST) - Siddharth Chaudhary Vs Prabhu Vasava

The Scheduled Tribe reserved Bardoli seat, falling under Surat district, is a widely regarded stronghold of the state BJP under the party leadership of CR Patil.

This is speculated to be one of the reasons behind the party fielding the two-time Member of Parliament (MP) from this seat, Prabhu Vasava, from this seat in its initial list.

Meanwhile, Congress has opted to field the party leader from Tapi, Siddharth Chaudhary, son of former MP MLA Amarsinh Z Chaudhary.

Kachchh (SC) - Nitish Lalan Vs Vinod Chavda

Barring a single term, the BJP has held the Kachchh seat since the past 35 years, with the sitting MP Vinod Chavda winning the previous two elections by a margin of 60% or more.

BJP is eyeing another sweep by their sitting MP, marking the party general secretary’s third consecutive term at an age of 45.

Meanwhile, Congress is willing to break this streak by fielding a young and grassroot leader from the party, Nitish Lalan, an active leader in the party’s East Kutch and Gandhidham wings.

AAP Vs BJP in Gujarat

Apart from the Congress-BJP battles, another I.N.D.I.A. bloc member, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have fielded their stalwart leaders from the two key Lok Sabha seats.

Bharuch - Chaitar Vasava Vs Mansukh Vasava

AAP’s controversial tribal leader and the sitting MLA from the Dediapada assembly seat, Chaitar Vasava, will face BJP’s six-time sitting Bharuch MP Mansukh Vasava. Mansukh is also a former union minister of state for tribal affairs.

It is noteworthy that BJP has held this seat since 1989.

Bhavnagar - Umesh Makwana Vs Nimu Bambhania

While AAP has fielded their sitting Botad MLA Umesh Makwana from this seat, BJP is eyeing to retain their 33-year old hold on this seat through Nimu Bambhania.

The BJP leader replaces the two-time MP Bharati Shiyal for the seat’s candidature.

Also read:

BJP releases second list of Lok Sabha candidates, Seven from Gujarat

Congress releases second Lok Sabha candidates list; Seven from Gujarat