Gujarat Unjha Election Result: BJP's Patidar card works, Kiritkumar Patel defeats Congress candidate

Bharatiya Janata Party's Kirtikumar Patel on Thursday defeated Arvind Patel in Unjha assembly segment in Gujarat by over 51,000 votes.

While Kirtikumar Patel polled 88066 votes, the Congress candidate bagged 36,845 votes. Aam Aadmi Party's Urvish Patel got 18,060 votes. Unjha, known as Asia's spice capital, was a prestige seat for the BJP as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hometown Vadnagar falls under it.

The Congress won this seat in 2017 polls after 45 years on the back of Patidar agitation.

The BJP fielded Kiritkumar Patel, a Patidar and also an RSS functionary considered close to Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat against Congress candidate and local businessman Arvind Patel, while AAP made the contest triangular by nominating 31-year-old Urvish Patel, who recently returned from New Zealand and joined politics.

The seat is dominated by the Patidar community which has shifted back to BJP in big numbers this time, with the quota row now confined to history.

The low profile image of soft spoken and affable Kirikumar also worked in the BJP's favour.

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