Gujarat key LS seats: Amit Shah in Gandhinagar, Mandaviya in Porbandar

Of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, the electoral battle in Gandhinagar, where Union minister Amit Shah is in the fray to retain his seat, will be among the most keenly watched one in the ensuing elections.

Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat will be held in a single phase on May 7. Counting of votes will be held on June 4. Following are the Lok Sabha seats to watch out for in Gujarat:

Gandhinagar

This urban seat has been a BJP bastion for long, having sent stalwarts like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani to Parliament. It is now represented by Shah, who defeated Congress' C J Chavda by 5.57 lakh votes in the 2019 polls. 

Porbandar

The BJP is the dominant party here due to the large presence of Leuva Patidars, a sub caste of the numerically and electorally strong Patel community.

The party has fielded Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya, a Leuva Patidar, from the seat. The minister, who hails from Bhavnagar district, has so far reached Parliament through the Rajya Sabha route. The BJP has been winning Porbandar seat since 1991, with 2009 being an exception when Congress' Vitthal Radadia emerged victorious.

Rajkot

It is a BJP stronghold that has given the party consistent wins since 1989, except in 2009 when Congress' Kunvarji Bavalia won the seat. The constituency has a significant presence of Leuva Patidars. The BJP candidate Parshottam Rupala, Union minister and Modi's close aide, is a Kadva Patidar, another sub caste of the Patel community. Rupala hails from Amreli district in Saurashtra region.

Surat

The world's diamond polishing hub has embraced the BJP since 1989. Union Minister of State for Railways and Textiles Darshana Jardosh is the current MP from Surat, having won the seat in 2019 polls with a margin of 5.4 lakh votes. The seat also has its place in the country's political history as Morarji Desai, the first non-Congress prime minister, won from here five times, including in the post-Emergency polls of 1977.

Bharuch

This predominantly tribal seat will see the combined might of the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party taking on the BJP. As part of the INDIA alliance, the seat was ceded by the Congress to AAP, which has fielded Dediapada MLA Chaitar Vasava. He will be pitted against BJP's Mansukh Vasava, who has been winning the seat since 1999. Vasava won in 2019 with a margin of 3.3 lakh votes, ensuring that the BJP stranglehold on the seat since 1989 continues. The Bharuch seat was once held by Congress leader late Ahmed Patel who first won it in 1977 and went on to win in 1980 and 1984, continuing to represent Bharuch in the Parliament through 1989.