Gujarat BJP focuses on seats it has never won

The BJP is going all out to ensure a big win in the Gujarat assembly elections in 2022 by focusing on seats which have not been the party's strongholds and targeting the Dalit and tribal votebank, which have not traditionally been BJP supporters.

Hoping to improve on the double-digit tally it recorded in the 2017 assembly polls, state unit president CR Patil says the party is targeting to win across all 182 assembly seats. For this, micro-management at the booth level is being worked out apart from mobilisation of voters at several levels.

Party insiders maintain that the BJP has prioritised the seats where it could not register a win historically and working overtime to expand its influence in such seats. "There are about 30-odd seats where we could never make much of a dent so far. Now, those seats are being given extra attention," said a senior party functionary.


One of the tangible impact of the party's "attention" is visible in the movement of former Congress MLAs of Khedbrahma and Vadgam, Ashwin Kotwal and Manilal Vaghela respectively, to the BJP recently. While Kotwal had been the sitting MLA of Khedbrahma, Vaghela was dropped by the Congress in 2017 to make way for independent candidate Jignesh Mevani. Both the seats have been traditional citadels of the Congress. The BJP now hopes to ride on the goodwill of Kotwal and Vaghela to win these seats.

Similarly, the party is focussing on the 27 tribal seats, of which it could only win 12 seats in 2017.