Surendranagar Lok Sabha Constituency: List of candidates for 2019 LS Poll, past results, all updates

Surendranagar was one of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat that went to polls. The main battle is between Dr Munjapara Mahnedrabhai of BJP and Koli Pael Somabhai Gandalal of INC.

Devajibhai Fatepara of BJP won by 2 lakh votes in 2014 against Somabhai Patel. 

In 2009, Somabhai Patel of INC beat Mer Laljibhai Chaturbhai of BJP by 4000 votes. 

In 2014, Gujarat was one of the big states which BJP managed to make Congress-mukt by winning all 26 seats.

With Narendra Modi as the prospective PM, the wave was strongest in his home state.

Five years down the line, the party has a tough task to repeat that performance.

BJP got a reality check in the Assembly election in 2017, when the party won but fell below the 100 mark, well short of its target of getting 150 seats. PM Modi ensured that BJP held onto to its citadel surviving anti-incumbency, the Patel and Dalit agitations, effect of demonetization and GST.

But it gave an indication that the Lok Sabha elections will be no cakewalk for the saffron outfit. Taking cue, BJP has changed/dropped 10 sitting MPs including Paresh Rawal. Party president Amit Shah will be fighting from Gandhinagar which used to be LK Advani's constituency. With PM Modi also not contesting from Gujarat unlike 2014, Shah's responsibility has only increased to maintain the perfect score.

However, Congress after its 2017 high has sort of lost its steam. Eight MLAs have left theparty since then.

But what may hurt them most is Alpesh Thakore's exit. Congress won 17 out of 32 assembly seats in North Gujarat in 2017 and was bullish about its chance here. But with Thakore campaigning for Thakore Sena candidates, Congress prospects are likely to take a hit in seats like Pathan, Sarbankantha, Mehsana and Banaskantha.

In 2017, Congress fared handsomely in Saurashtra region, where BJP only managed to get 18 out of 49 seats due to the agrarian distress and Patidar quota row. However, BJP believes Patidar agitation has now blown over and it has managed to placate the anger by giving 10% reservation to Economically Weaker Sections of the general category and also by providing Rs 6000 yearly to farmers through the PM KISAN scheme. With four OBC Congress MLAs switching over, BJP is hoping to improve its performance in Saurashtra region from Assembly elections. Yet, the Congress is confident of victory in Amreli, Junagadh, Surendranagar and Porbandar.

However according to senior Congress leader Bharat Sinh Solanki, party's best chance of getting a win is in Anand in Central Gujarat, where he is contesting.

South Gujarat though is likely to be one-way traffic with Congress only in serious fight in two reserved seats of Bardoli and bellwether Valsad. There are two SC and four ST-reserved seats in Gujarat. The BJP has made significant inroads in SC and ST communities which used to be loyal Congress vote-bank in the past.  However, the Congress is hopeful of putting up a good show in all the reserved seats.

The importance Congress is giving to Gujarat can be ascertained by the fact that it held the party’s working committee meeting in the state after 58 years to mark the historic Dandi March. Gujarat is one of the few states where Priyanka Gandhi is campaigning besides Uttar Pradesh. The Modi-Shah duo is highlighting the nationalism theme stridently on the campaign trail, which they hope will work well in Gujarat.

In 2017, urban Gujarat overwhelmingly voted for BJP, while rural parts put their faith in Congress.

 Congress won 62 of the 107 rural assembly seats in 2017. The comforting factor for BJP though is only 57.4% of Gujarat is rural compared to national average of 68.86%. How much BJP's rural outreach has worked on ground will determine if the party can keep a clean sheet in 2019, doing an encore of the last election. The entire state votes in a single phase on April 23.