Bharuch (Gujarat) [India], May 2 : An interesting contest awaits in the Bharuch constituency in Gujarat in Lok Sabha elections, where BJP's incumbent MP Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava is up against the Aam Aadmi Party's Chaitar Vasava.
The Bharcuh constituency has a huge tribal population that play a significant role in the electoral politics of the region.
BJP has been winning this seat since 1989 and they have reaffirmed faith in six-time MP Mansukhbhai Vasava, who continued his hold on the seat by registering a victory in 2019 by a margin of over 3.5 lakh votes.
On the other hand, Chaitar Vasava is AAP's sitting MLA from Dediapada.
According to the seat-sharing agreement under the INDIA bloc, AAP is contesting on two seats in Gujarat: Bharuch and Bhavnagar. While the party has announced Chaitar Vasava from Bharuch, Umesh Makwana will contest from Bhavnagar.
Gujarat, the home state of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is a citadel of the BJP, with the party winning all 26 seats in the last two general elections.
It is pertinent to note that AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had announced Vasava's candidature from the seat back in January when the Dediapada MLA was in jail on alleged charges of extortion and assault of forest officials.
He also met Vasava and his wife in jail and lauded his MLA for "fighting for his people's water, forests, land, schools, and hospitals."
AAP registered its presence in Gujarat after it won 5 MLAs and garnered over 13 per cent votes in the assembly elections in the state in 2022.
The Bharuch constituency was once a pocket borough of the late Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who had won the seat thrice in a row from 1977 to 1984. Giving the seat to AAP despite Ahmed Patel's daughter, Mumtaz Patel, showing her willingness to contest from her father's seat was a significant decision by Congress.
Other than these two, the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) has announced Dilip Vasava from the community, bringing three people from the tribal 'Vasava' community into the fray.
Dilip Vasava is the son of Chhotu Vasava, a seven-term MLA from Gujarat's Jhagadia seat and is the national convenor of BAP.
Gujarat will vote for 25 out of 26 parliamentary seats in the Lok Sabha elections on May 7.
On the remaining constituency of Surat, BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was elected 'unopposed' after the nomination papers of the Congress party's candidate Nilesh Kumbhani were rejected, as his three proposers claimed in an affidavit to the district election officer that they had not signed his nomination form.
This election also comes at a precarious time for the Aam Aadmi Party when its tallest leader Arvind Kejriwal is in jail in connection with charges under Delhi excise policy.
With this, an interesting contest is up on May 7, as AAP will be trying to create history by stopping BJP's juggernaut on the seat, while the ruling party would look forward to continuing with its stronghold in the constituency.