Ahmedabad: With its candidate winning the by-election to the Morva Hadaf assembly constituency on Sunday, the ruling BJP’s tally in the Gujarat legislative assembly has gone up to 112.
On the other hand, the opposition Congress saw its tally in the 182-member House declining steadily from 77 seats it had won in the assembly elections held in December 2017 to the current 65 due to defections and defeat in the by-polls held earlier.
At the same time, the BJP’s number rose from 99 seats it had won in 2017 to the current 112 due to victories in by-elections, mainly necessitated due to resignations by MLAs of the Congress.
Among other parties, Chhotu Vasava’s Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) has two MLAs in the House, the Nationalist Congress party one while one seat is represented by Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani.
The Gujarat high court had invalidated the election of BJP MLA Pabubha Manek from Dwarka Assembly seat for submitting a defective nomination form. The matter is pending in the Supreme Court.
BJP’s Nimisha Suthar on Sunday won the by-election to Morva Hadaf (ST) Assembly constituency in Panchmahal district by defeating her nearest Congress rival Suresh Katara by 45,649 votes.
The by-poll was necessitated after independent MLA Bhupendrasinh Khant was disqualified in May 2019 for submitting an invalid caste certificate.
He eventually lost an appeal in the Gujarat high court on the issue. Khant died due to health issues in January this year.
Suthar, who is a former legislator, had won the 2013 by-poll from the same seat after the demise of the then sitting MLA Savitaben Khant.