The counting of votes for Lok Sabha elections 2024 is underway and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA is leading the race at present. The BJP is leading in 247 seats, taking the NDA lead to 304, while the Congress is leading in 93 seats. The INDIA bloc is leading in 217 seats as per initial counting. The half-way mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha is 272.
Sonal Patel contesting elections
Amit Shah is contesting from this seat since 2019. This time Congress has fielded its Gujarat women's unit president Sonal Patel against Shah. Shah had won the 2019 elections by a margin of more than five and a half lakh votes. BJP's aim is to increase this victory margin to more than 10 lakh. In the year 2019, BJP's CR Patil defeated his Congress rival from Navsari seat in Gujarat by a margin of more than 6.9 lakh votes. This was the largest margin of victory in the country in the 2019 elections.
BJP has a stronghold in Gujarat
There are 21.5 lakh registered voters in this constituency (11.04 lakh male, 10.46 lakh female and 70 third gender). This includes Gandhinagar North, Kalol, Sanand, Ghatlodia, Vejalpur, Naranpura and Sabarmati assembly constituencies. This seat has remained a stronghold of BJP for the last 35 years. BJP has not lost a single election here since 1989.
In the year 2019, BJP's CR Patil defeated his Congress rival from Navsari seat in Gujarat by a margin of more than 6.9 lakh votes. This was the largest margin of victory in the country in the 2019 elections.
This is what Amit Shah said
When asked about the target of Rs 10 lakh, Shah had recently told reporters, "My victory margin will be much more than in 2019." said later,I was an ordinary BJP worker and used to paste posters here. I have represented this area for almost 30 years.
Shah had earlier said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided that India will bid for the 2036 Olympics and the Games will be organized in Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad. The Union Home Minister had conducted a road show in the constituency on April 18, a day before filing his nomination.