Patan (Gujarat) Election 2019: Bharatsinhji Shankarji of BJP takes on Jagdish Thakor of Congress

Gandhinagar: Patan is one of the 26 constituencies of Gujarat that went to polls in the third phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on 23rd April. Around 62 per cent of voters turned up to cast their vote in Patan. It is situated in the northern parts of Gujarat and considered as one of the politically sensitive regions. 

Currently, the seat is held by Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Liladharbhai Khodaji Vaghela. In 2014, Liladharbhai Khodaji Vaghela secured 518,538 votes while Congress's Rathod Bhavsinhbhai Dahyabhai was the runner up with 379,819 votes.

This time BJP has fielded Dabhi Bharatsinhji Shankarji from Patan and he will be contesting against Jagdish Thakor from Congress. Both candidates belong to the Thakor community. Bharatsinhji Shankarji is also a sitting MLA from Kheralu assembly constituency from Gujarat. From this region, 12 candidates will be on the fray. 

Interestingly, the results of the past four elections show that both Congress and BJP have claimed this seat twice. Also, none of the parties could manage to retain this constituency successively for two terms in this period. Therefore, anti-incumbency becomes a key factor for voters in this region. 

In 2009, Congress's Jagdish won by more than 20,000 votes. He did not contest from Patan in 2014 and since anti-incumbency plays an important role in Patan, Jagdish can offer a big fight. 

The ongoing Lok Sabha election is held in seven phases. The voting for the first phase took place on 11th April and final phase will be held on 19th May. The results of the elections will be declared on 23rd May 2019.