AAP, Tribals A New Challenge For BJP In Gujarat's South
NDTV
Of the 89 seats where elections will be held in the first phase of the Gujarat polls on December 1, as many as 35 seats are spread across the southern districts of Bharuch, Narmada, Tapi, Dang, Surat, Valsad and Navsari.
The challenge posed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and agitations by local tribals against various government projects could queer the pitch for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the south Gujarat region in the coming Assembly elections.
Of the 89 seats where elections will be held in the first phase of the Gujarat polls on December 1, as many as 35 seats are spread across the southern districts of Bharuch, Narmada, Tapi, Dang, Surat, Valsad and Navsari.
In 2017, the BJP had managed to win 25 of these 35 seats while the Congress and Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) won eight and two seats, respectively.
But of the 14 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the region, the BJP could win only five. In subsequent bypolls, it clinched two additional seats -- Dang and Kaprada -- from the Congress.