Ahmedabad: A by-election was held on June 19 for two seats of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly—Visavadar and Kadi. The results delivered a split verdict, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retaining the Kadi seat and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) winning Visavadar. Both victorious candidates have now taken oath as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The oath was administered by Gujarat Vidhan Sabha Speaker Shankar Chaudhary at the state assembly complex.

BJP’s Rajendra Chavda emerged victorious in the Kadi constituency with a margin of 39,452 votes, after securing 99,742 votes. Congress candidate Ramesh Chavda received 60,290 votes, while AAP’s Jagdish Chavda got 3,090 votes. A total of 1,701 voters opted for NOTA. The Kadi seat became vacant following the death of former BJP MLA Karsan Solanki.

Meanwhile, AAP candidate Gopal Italia registered a win from the Visavadar constituency, securing 75,942 votes and defeating his BJP rival, Kirit Patel, by a margin of 17,554 votes. The seat had not seen a ruling party victory since 2012 and became vacant after former AAP MLA Bhupat Bhayani resigned and joined the BJP.

With this oath, the strength of the BJP in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly has risen from 161 to 162, while Congress remains the opposition party with 12 seats and AAP now holding 4 seats. The remaining seats are held by Independents and Samajwadi Party MLAs. DeshGujarat