Sitting Congress MLA from Palitana, Pravin Rathod today won the primary election held by his party for choosing its candidate for the Bhavnagar Lok Sabha constituency.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has introduced the system of internal elections, called primaries, to select candidates for 16 Lok Sabha constituencies including Bhavnagar and Vadodara in Gujarat.
The others in the fray were Jilla Panchayat member Digvijaysinh Gohil, Ghogha Taluka Panchayat president Jitu Vaghela and former MLA Natu Dabhi's son, Jivan Dabhi. Of the 858 Congress workers and local leaders who had registered themselves as voters, 576 votes were cast today.
"Rathod received 303 votes and was declared a clear winner. Gohil came second with 133 votes, while Dabhi and Vaghela came third and fourth respectively," said Dr D B Raninga, president of Bhavnagar district Congress.
Meanwhile, in a keenly contested primary election for picking the candidate for Wardha Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra, Sagar Meghe today defeated Charulata Tokas by 46 votes.
Meghe, son of the sitting Congress MP Datta Meghe, polled 600 votes against Tokas, daughter of the late Rajasthan Governor Prabha Rau, who got 554 votes. Wardha and Latur are the two Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra chosen by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for this mode of candidate selection.
