Gujarat Assembly elections 2022: BJP candidate Kantilal Amrutiya registered yet another victory from Morbi seat of Gujarat assembly. He defeated Congress leader Jayantilal Jerajbhai Patel by a margin of 62,079 votes. The seat is one of the 182 constituencies of Gujarat which falls under the Kachchh Lok Sabha segment. The recent bridge collapse, which claimed 135 lives, had drawn attention to this Patidar-dominated constituency.
Currently, the Bharatiya Janata Paraty (BJP) holds the seat but it will be interesting to see how people vote after the tragic incident. The ruling BJP has its task cut out at this seat as the Opposition launched a scathing attack on chief minister Bhupendra Patel-led government.
ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2022: FULL COVERAGE
BJP changes its candidate in Morbi
BJP leader and Morbi's sitting MLA Brijesh Merja had to bear the brunt of the tragedy as the party changed its candidate for the upcoming polls. This time, the party gave the ticket to former Morbi MLA Kantilal Amrutiya in place of incumbent legislator Merja.
According to reports, Amrutiya was awarded for his act as he saved several lives during the deadly bridge collapse in Morbi. A video had emerged showing Amrutiya rescuing people who had fallen into the river.
Meanwhile, Congress fielded Jayantilal Jerajbhai Patel, whereas, AAP gave the ticket to Pankaj Ransariya.
Assembly elections 2017
In the 2017 assembly elections, Brijesh Merja had won as a Congress candidate defeating BJP's Kantilal Amrutiya by a margin of 3,419 votes. However, Merja switched sides in 2020 and joined the BJP. Following his resignation from the assembly and party, a by-election was held to conduct the next legislator.
By-election 2020
In the by-election, Merja defeated Congress' Jayantilan Patel by a margin of 4,649 votes. Merja had garnered a total of 64,711 votes with a vote share of 45.07%. Meanwhile, his rival candidate Patel could manage a total of 60,062 votes with a vote share of 41.83%. The polling in Morbi was held on December 1, while the counting of votes took place on December 8, 2022.
