Gujarat Assembly elections 2022: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dr Darshita Shah defeated Congress candidate Mansukhbhai Kalaria by a margin of 1,05,975 votes in Rajkot West assembly seat. The seat is considered Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) stronghold and one of the prestigious seats for the saffron party.
The seat holds significance for the BJP as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had started his electoral career from here. The party's veteran leader Vajubhai Vala had vacated the seat for Modi in 2002 after winning seven times from here.
ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2022: FULL COVERAGE
Prominent candidates in the fray
The BJP has been winning Rajkot (West) seat continuously since 1985. However, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would look to break the BJP's winning streak this time.
For the upcoming elections, the BJP fielded Dr. Darshita Shah from this seat. Meanwhile, Congress was represented by Mansukhbhai Kalaria and the AAP placed its bets on Dinesh Joshi. The constituency witnessed a tough contest among the three parties.
2017 Assembly elections
Earlier in the 2017 Assembly elections, BJP leader and former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani had defeated his rival and then Congress leader Indranil Rajguru by a margin of 53,755 votes.
Rupani had received a total of 1,3186 votes with a vote share of 60.67%. Meanwhile, his rival candidate Rajguru could manage a total of 77,831 votes with a vote share of 35.89%.
The polling in Rajkot West was held on December 1, while the counting of votes took place on December 8, 2022.
