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Congress retains Jamalpur seat
Ahmedabad, Dec 04: Opposition Congress in Gujarat today romped home comfortably when its debutant candidate Shabbir Khedawala trounced his nearest BJP rival Lalji Parmar in the by-poll to Jamalpur assembly constituency.
Ahmedabad, Dec 04: Opposition Congress in Gujarat today romped home comfortably when its debutant candidate Shabbir Khedawala trounced his nearest BJP rival Lalji Parmar in the by-poll to Jamalpur assembly constituency.
Khedawala, a businessman from Juhapura area, defeated Parmar, a former city mayor, by a margin of 17,698 votes when he polled 42,946 votes in his favour, official sources said.
While the Congress retained the Jamalpur seat for the second consecutive term, BJP failed to defy the history of never winning this seat.
In fact, Parmar was humbled for the second time after he was defeated by late Usman Gani Devdiwala, an Independent candidate in 1998 elections, whose death on October 5 had necessitated the by-poll.
Nine candidates, including Devdiwala's son Imtiaz, were in the fray for this by-poll, where the balance was heavily tilted in favour of Congress.
With this win, Congress has retained its strength of 50 in the 182-member Gujarat state assembly.
Out of the 1.40 lakh voters in the constituency, 51.64 per cent had excercised their franchise during voting on December 1. The electorate mainly consisted of 53,000 Dalits along with a sizeable population of Muslim voters.
Bureau Report
While the Congress retained the Jamalpur seat for the second consecutive term, BJP failed to defy the history of never winning this seat.
In fact, Parmar was humbled for the second time after he was defeated by late Usman Gani Devdiwala, an Independent candidate in 1998 elections, whose death on October 5 had necessitated the by-poll.
Nine candidates, including Devdiwala's son Imtiaz, were in the fray for this by-poll, where the balance was heavily tilted in favour of Congress.
With this win, Congress has retained its strength of 50 in the 182-member Gujarat state assembly.
Out of the 1.40 lakh voters in the constituency, 51.64 per cent had excercised their franchise during voting on December 1. The electorate mainly consisted of 53,000 Dalits along with a sizeable population of Muslim voters.
Bureau Report