The 2007 Gujarat assembly poll proved to be a pivotal contest for two politicians, former Gujarat Home Minister and now Union Minister, Amit Shah who fought from Sarkhej constituency (Ahmedabad) and Choryasi (Surat) BJP candidate and former state irrigation minister Narottam Patel.
Patel won by a margin of 3.47 lakh votes while Shah beat his closest rival by 2.36 lakh votes. This was possible because, in 2007, Choryasi constituency had the highest voting population of 15.94 lakh, while Sarkhej had 10.26 lakh voters.
Following the 2012 delimitation process, there are currently 172 constituencies where the voting population is less than Patel’s 2007 margin of victory.
However, even today, Choryasi seat boasts the largest number of voters in the state with 5.65 lakh, while Surat North has the lowest number of voters with 1.63 lakh.
The average number of voters in Gujarat’s 182 polling stations is 2.70 lakh. There are only 10 constituencies where the number of eligible voters exceeds Patel’s margin of victory in 2007. “In 2012, Sarkhej constituency was dissolved and merged with neighboring Ghatlodia and Daskroi constituencies to carve out the seat of assembly of Vejalpur. In the case of the Choryasi seat, parts of the constituency were merged with adjacent assembly seats. Even the 1.8 lakh margin of votes of BJP Naroda’s Maya Kodnani in 2007 has yet to be broken in that constituency,” reveals a senior BJP leader.
The effect of the redrawing of borders was evident in the Ghatlodia seat where, in 2012, then Prime Minister Anandiben Patel won by a margin of 1.1 lakh votes. In the 2017 poll, vacated the seat for first-time MLA and close confidant Bhupendra Patel, who won by a margin of 1.18 lakh votes to become prime minister last year.
Gujarat Elections 2022 Live Updates
Notably, in the 2007 poll, former Gujarat home minister Amit Shah won a total of 4.07 lakh votes and beat his congressional rival Shashikant Patel by a huge margin.
Similarly, in Choryasi, former State Irrigation Minister Narottam Patel won 5.84 lakh votes and defeated Congressman Janak Dhanani.
Gujarat BJP suspends 7 for contesting polls as independent
After the 2007 assembly elections, Gujarat saw assembly elections in 2012 and 2017. However, the records of the three BJP candidates – Amit Shah, Narottam Patel and Mayaben Kodnani – who won by huge margins of vote in 2007 have so far not been beaten.
This time, however, poll pundits say there are chances Kodnani’s winning margin in 2007 could be breached over Naroda’s seat if not the winning margins of Amit Shah or Narottam Patel that year.
