Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Harshad Parmar is in the lead in the Umreth Assembly by-election in Gujarat. After 16 rounds of vote counting, Parmar has secured 61,417 votes, holding a lead of 22,937 votes over Congress rival Bhrugurajsinh Chauhan.
Chauhan is trailing with 38,480 votes. The counting process began at 8 a.m. at the BJVM College campus in Vallabh Vidyanagar under strict security measures. The by-election in the Umreth constituency in Anand district was conducted on April 23 following the demise of sitting BJP MLA Govind Parmar.
The voter turnout was slightly above 59% across over 300 polling stations. Harshad Parmar, son of the late MLA, is participating in his first major election after previously serving in local governance roles. His candidacy was supported by senior BJP leaders during the campaign.
Chauhan, a prominent Congress figure, has been the president of the Umreth taluka panchayat for three terms and currently holds a significant organizational position in the party’s central zone in Gujarat. Although six candidates are contesting, the competition primarily revolves around BJP and Congress, as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) decided not to field a candidate.
The Umreth Assembly seat is one of the 182 constituencies in the state Legislative Assembly and is part of the Anand district. Vote counting for the Umreth by-election is happening concurrently with bypolls in various other states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tripura, and Nagaland. Seven Assembly constituencies across five states are undergoing bypolls, with results anticipated later in the day. The Umreth outcome is closely monitored as part of this broader electoral process coinciding with Assembly election outcomes in multiple states nationwide.
