Swing resistant: 47 seats, same parties, 24 years | News on the Gujarat elections


AHMEDABAD: Almost a quarter of the assembly 182 seats in Gujarat they have not changed hands from one political party to another since 1998. Voters have shown unshakeable confidence in a candidate or party in these 47 seats across the state.
The number of such impregnable bastions rises to a total of 55 seats when taking into account the last four elections since 2002.
Over the past 24 years, while the BJP has not lost 31 seats, Congress managed to keep 15. One seat is the stronghold of Chhotu Vasava, the founder of the Bharatiya Tribal Party, which has not lost since 1995.
Most of the BJP’s invincible seats fall in the cities – Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot – while Congress has steadfastly maintained its ramparts in the rural and tribal areas of central and southern Gujarat despite being out of power for nearly three decades.
That there has been no change of power in these 47 seats is significant as both the BJP and Congress faced major realignments in the voter base due to the demarcation in 2012.

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Furthermore, to some extent, the voters of these polling stations have been loyal to their respective ones parties even in general elections. Although BJP won all 26 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, Congress gained significant gains in nine assembly segments of its strongholds. Even in 2014, when the BJP captured all 26 seats, congressional candidates led in 17 assembly segments.
The polling stations where voters have supported BJP continuously for the past 22 years are Visnagar, Mehsana, Idar, Ellisbridge, Naroda, Maninagar, Sabarmati, Asarwa, Wadhwan, Rajkot West, Rajkot South, Rajkot Rural, Keshod, Mahuva (Bhavnagar), Botad , Nadiad, Kalol (Panchmahal), Waghodia, Vadodara City, Sayajigunj, Raopura, Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Olpad, Surat North, Surat West, Choryasi, Jalalpore, Navsari, Gandevi and Valsad.

Among the seats where voters remained loyal to Congress are Khedbrahma (ST), Dariapur, Jamalpur-Khadia (formerly known as Jamalpur as Khadia was a separate constituency), Jasdan, Borsad, Mahudha, Vyara, Danta (ST ), Kaprada, Vansda, Bhiloda and Vadgam.
The Jasdan assembly venue in Saurashtra is an exception. It has been won by Congress five times in a row since 1998. But after the 2017 assembly election, the current Congressional MLA, Kunvarji Bavaliya, moved to the BJP and won the by-election with a BJP ticket.
A senior tribal belt leader who has won Congress ticket multiple times said that although there have been some exceptions, the tribal community has sided with Congress and a number of strong leaders have emerged from the community.



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