Gujarat Election Results 2017 LIVE: Good news for Congress as Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani wins in Vadgam
Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani on Monday defeated its nearest BJP rival by nearly 20,000 votes in Vadgam to register his make his entry into the Gujarat Assembly. He contested independent but was backed by the Congress with party chief Rahul Gandhi even campaigning for him.
He defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Vijaykumar Chakravarti by a margin of 19,696 votes. Mevani secured 95,497 votes, while Chakravarti got 75,801 votes.
Interestingly, NOTA (None of the Above) got 4,255 votes, making it the third highest recepient of the votes.
Mevani, who hails from Ahmedabad, contested from Vadgam, a reserved Assembly seat in Banaskantha district. The constituency has 16% Dalits and 25% Muslim population.
Mevani came to limelight after he started organised protests against the Una killing in July, where four Dalits were beaten publicly for skinning a dead cow by vigilantes.
"We want to overthrow the 22 years of BJP rule. But we are not endorsing Congress either... People of Gujarat are smart enough to choose whom to cast their vote to. We don't have to tell them," Mevani had said during one of his campaign rallies.
The 35-year-old had managed to galvanise the Dalit youth to lead huge protests across the state. In the past year, Mevani has emerged as someone whom political parties cannot afford to ignore, particularly ahead of the assembly elections.
Another big hope of Congress, Alpesh Thakor, the Other Backward Caste or OBC leader, won from Radhanpur in Patan district by nearly 15,000 votes. Thakor secured 85,777 votes while his nearest rival BJP's Solanki Lavingji Muljiji Thakor received 70,920 votes.
The backward caste leader was roped in by Congress to win the support of Gujarat's 30% vote from OBCs. During the campaigning, Thakor attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and even went on to say that the prime minister has glowing skin as he have mushrooms especially ordered from Taiwan everyday.
Popular among the Dalit youth, Mevani has so far got 92,341 votes. The counting is still underway for this seat in Banaskantha district.
Mevani came to limelight after he started organised protests against the Una killing in July, where four Dalits were beaten publicly for skinning a dead cow by vigilantes.
"We want to overthrow the 22 years of BJP rule. But we are not endorsing Congress either... People of Gujarat are smart enough to choose whom to cast their vote to. We don't have to tell them," Mevani had said during one of his campaign rallies.
The 35-year-old had managed to galvanise the Dalit youth to lead huge protests across the state. In the past year, Mevani has emerged as someone whom political parties cannot afford to ignore, particularly ahead of the assembly elections.
Another big hope of Congress, Alpesh Thakor, the Other Backward Caste or OBC leader, has won from Radhanpur in Patan district.
The backward caste leader was roped in by Congress to win the support of Gujarat's 30% vote from OBCs. During the campaigning, Thakor attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and even went on to say that the prime minister has glowing skin as he have mushrooms especially ordered from Taiwan everyday.
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