The Ruling BJP on Sunday retained the Surat West Assembly constituency, where a bypoll was held, defeating the Congress by an overwhelming margin.
Purnesh Modi of BJP trounced his Congress rival D.L. Patel by more than 66,000 votes. With this, the ruling party’s tally has gone up to 120 in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly.
Mr. Purnesh Modi, who is also Surat city BJP president, bagged 86,061 votes, while Mr. Patel could garner only 19,769, district election officials said.
“The counting is over. Purnesh Modi of BJP has been declared winner by a margin of 66,292 votes over his nearest (Congress) rival,” Chief District Election Officer and Surat Collector Jayprakash Shivhare told PTI .
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who did not campaign in the constituency, as he was busy canvassing in other poll-bound States, congratulated Mr. Purnesh Modi on his victory.
“Congratulations to Purnesh Modi and BJP karyakartas for grand victory in Surat West by-election. Thanks to voters of Surat,” Mr. Narendra Modi tweeted.
The by-poll was necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Kishore Vankawala.
A district election official said 2,307 voters exercised the “None Of The Above” (NOTA) option, which was introduced for the first time after a Supreme Court verdict in September this year.
