Vadodara, Aug 3 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Satish Patel strengthened his position in the counting of votes for the Manjalpur Assembly by-election on Monday, opening up a lead of 19,368 votes over his nearest rival after the completion of 11 rounds of counting.
According to the latest figures released during the counting process, Satish Patel had secured 34,345 votes, while Congress candidate Bhikha Rabari had polled 14,977 votes after 11 rounds.
The BJP candidate was ahead by 19,368 votes, indicating a comfortable advantage as counting progressed.
The counting of votes began in the morning at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Makarpura in Vadodara under tight security. In the initial trends at 9 a.m., Patel had already established an early lead with 6,287 votes against Rabari’s 2,768 votes, giving him an advantage of 3,519 votes.
The lead continued to widen with each successive round. The by-election was necessitated by the death of veteran BJP MLA and former minister Yogesh Patel, who had represented the Manjalpur constituency for several terms.
The contest witnessed a direct fight between the BJP’s Satish Patel, a former Vadodara Municipal Corporation councillor and the party’s former Vadodara district president, and Congress leader Bhikha Rabari, the party’s Gujarat vice-president and a former state minister.
Polling for the by-election was held on July 30 and concluded without any major disruption. The constituency recorded a final voter turnout of 37.50 per cent, substantially lower than the 60.15 per cent recorded during the 2022 Gujarat Assembly election.
A total of 2,19,494 electors were eligible to vote in the bypoll. Polling was conducted across 260 polling stations under elaborate arrangements by the Election Commission, including 100 per cent live webcasting and CCTV surveillance, while mobile deposit facilities and other voter amenities were provided at polling stations.
The Manjalpur by-election has drawn political attention as it is the first electoral contest in the constituency following the death of Yogesh Patel, who had been one of the BJP’s prominent faces in Vadodara politics.
Counting of votes is continuing, and the Election Commission is likely to announce the official result after all rounds of counting are completed.
–IANS
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