Congress leader Paresh Dhanani appears headed for shock defeat in Amreli

Congress leader Paresh Dhanani, who has won the Patidar-dominated Amreli assembly constituency in three elections, on Thursday appeared headed for a shock defeat as early trends showed he was trailing his rival from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by more than 5,600 votes.

BJP's Kaushik Vekariya, who heads the party's district unit, had polled 13,322 votes at the end of four rounds of counting of votes. The corresponding figure for Dhanani was 7,638, while the AAP's candidate, Ravi Dhanani had polled 6,000, according to data from the Election Commission.

The early trends underscored how the AAP's entry into Gujarat's poll arena was hurting Congress. The Congress party had swept all the five seats in Amreli district in 2017 and the impressive score had catapulted Dhanani to become the leader of opposition in the state assembly following the elections.


All the three leading candidates in Amreli are Patidars. Amreli has been a swing seat for BJP and Congress. For young Paresh Dhanani, 2002 elections was a watershed moment. Despite a big wave in favour of the BJP in the elections that closely followed the Hindu-Muslim riots of 2002, Dhanani won Amreli as the Patidar community felt cheated after the unceremonious removal of Keshubhai Patel as chief minister in 2001.

Patel was replaced by Modi. Dhanani was just 26 then. Dhanani has not had to look back since then. His political trajectory soared after his election for a second time in 2012. In 2017, Dhanani was projected by his followers as a chief ministerial candidate. Dhanani won, but the Congress party fell short of winning a majority in the assembly.

Patel made leader of the opposition in 2017 after he defeated former minister Bavku Undhad in the last elections. For the BJP it was a matter of prestige to win back Amreli, where every second voter is a Patidar. Kolis comprise about 15 per cent, while upper caste, Dalits and Muslim voters make up the rest. Barring Amreli town, the constituency is predominantly a rural pocket.