Gujarat bypolls: Cong upbeat over ‘people rejecting politics of turncoats’

Congress leaders celebrate the party’s performance in the assembly bypolls in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

As counting of votes for the six constituencies that went to bypolls on October 21 was progressing, there was no activity at the state Congress camp and the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan wore a deserted look till around afternoon.

Since morning, the Congress camp huddled inside the office of state president Amit Chavda, glued to the TV set, attending phone calls from party workers posted at counting centres. There were instances when few Congress leaders would step out and interact with media personnel, just to compare the early trends which showed the party leading in four seats out of six.

Sweets and firecrackers also arrived at the party’s state headquarters but taking a lesson out of the recent drubbing in Lok Sabha elections where they lost all 26 seats to BJP, the Congress leaders this time decided not to count their chickens before they hatched.

However, by 3pm, as all 23 rounds of counting ended for Radhanpur seat and Raghu Desai of Congress ended up defeating turncoat BJP leader Alpesh Thakor by a margin of over 3,800 votes, inhibitions were dropped at the party headquarters as Chavda accompanied by dozens of supporters emerged victorious from his office chamber. Bursting of firecrackers and distribution of sweets soon followed.

“Today’s mandate clearly showed that the people of Gujarat have rejected the politics of turncoats. Such people who cheated the voters for money and power turned rebellious from their party and constituency voters have been given a tight slap by the people,” said Chavda.

Congress won three out of six constituencies — Radhanpur, Bayad and Tharad — that went to bypolls on October 21. However, what mattered was victory against Alpesh Thakor in Radhanpur and against Dhavasinh Zala in Bayad, as the two BJP candidates who recently switched sides from the Congress. The party suffered a major setback when the duo joined the BJP after Thakor’s recent drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections. Days ahead of the by-elections, Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani attacked the Congress stating that many MLAs from the opposition are in queue to join the ruling party but “I have asked them to wait and enjoy the stay in Congress for some time.”

While both Radhanpur and Bayad seats in Banaskantha of North Gujarat have been Congress strongholds, defeating Thakor, who was once considered as Rahul Gandhi’s confidant, was no mean task for the party.

“The Congress party in Gujarat has been fighting for the people with truth and that is why people are with Congress. Congress is striving for people in front of dictatorial BJP government (sic),” tweeted Hardik Patel, young Congress leader.

Whether this victory in bypolls might not hold big for the Congress statistically, it will definitely provide a much needed fix in their sinking ship ahead of state assembly polls of 2022.

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source https://cvrnewsdirect.com/gujarat-bypolls-cong-upbeat-over-people-rejecting-politics-of-turncoats/