Winning Gujarat bypolls may prove tough for BJP; 'advantage' for Congress

While the BJP and Congress prepare for by-polls to eight Assembly seats to be held on November 3 in Gujarat, the trends suggest that victory at a majority of seats will be tough for the ruling party.

These eight seats fell vacant after as many Congress MLAs resigned in the run-up to Rajya Sabha polls earlier this year and eventually joined the ruling BJP.

The BJP is speculated to be fielding five of its Congress turncoats as party candidates which might go in favour of the opposition Congress. Although the result will not impact the BJP-led Rupani government in any manner, a win for the Congress may uplift the party workers ahead of the local civic body polls slated to be held later this year.

"We can't say for sure as of today but it seems five out of eight Congress defectors are going to get BJP tickets. The senior party leaders are gauging the mood of workers before making the names public. If it happens, the discontentment among the party workers will widen. A large number of workers are still in shock over the appointment of Navsari MP C R Patil as state BJP president. But, defectors contesting polls on party tickets will be demoralising for the booth level workers," sources said.

The eight Assembly seats which are going to polls are—Abdasa, Limbdi, Morbi, Gadhada, Dhari, Dangs, Kaprada and Karjan. Sources said that barring Dangs, Limbdi and Dadhada seats, the BJP is most likely to give tickets to Congress turncoats. Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has also expressed confidence in winning back all the seats.

"It is a unique contest that we are witnessing. Our candidates had won all these seats in 2017 Assembly polls who switched their loyalties to BJP for money or may even be for a post. Let's see how the voters react to it. I can't comment on our choice of candidates as of now but I am sure if we select good candidates we might win all the seats," said a senior Congress leader.

Meanwhile, the state government has issued guidelines for the polls, prohibiting the use of the stage for political gathering and numbers have been restricted to 200 persons.