Campaigning for by-election to the Jasdan assembly constituency in Gujarat came to an end Tuesday evening, setting the stage for voting on December 20 with both the Congress and the BJP sounding confident of winning the seat held by former Congressman Kunvarji Bavaliya.
Bavaliya had won from Jasdan in the 2017 assembly polls on a Congress ticket. In July, he quit the Congress and also resigned from the assembly, and joined the ruling BJP, which immediately made him a Cabinet minister.
Bavaliya's resignation necessitated the bypoll in Jasdan, located in Rajkot district, around 200km from Ahmedabad, and he is now in the fray as the BJP candidate.
The Congress has fielded Avsar Nakiya, a district panchayat member, from the seat where result will be announced on December 23.
Senior state Congress leaders and party's Gujarat in- charge Rajeev Satav besides a host of MLAs campaigned for Nakiya.
The opposition party also brought in Punjab Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu as its star campaigner to address a gathering moments before the campaign ended at 5 pm.
The BJP organised a 36km-long motorbike rally, led by its state president Jitu Vaghani, on the last day of canvassing.
Bavaliya is a prominent Koli leader and is banking on support from his community, which has a large presence in the constituency, to get re-elected.
The ruling party organised rallies and door-to-door campaigns in support of Bavaliya with Vaghani leading from the front in canvassing.
While Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was conspicuous by his absence on the campaign trail, his wife Anjali Rupani sought votes for Bavaliya.
"I have not come here as the chief minister's wife but as a party worker from Rajkot. This is the not the first time that I have come for election, but have campaigned for candidates elsewhere. Kunvarjibhai will surely win and with over 51,000 votes," Anjali Rupani told reporters.
The Congress targeted the BJP for spending "Rs 20 crore" on campaigning and involving central ministers, MPs, MLAs and government machinery to ensure Bavaliya's victory.
"But the voters will show them (the BJP) the door and teach them a lesson for hurting their self-respect," Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani of the Congress said.
Vaghani said Bavaliya enjoys support of voters cutting across community and caste lines and he is poised to win by a huge margin.
"BJP is getting support from all communities. Bavaliya has taken up the development of Jasdan. A new Jasdan will develop when Kunvarjibhai wins," Vaghani said.
"The manner in which people are supporting the BJP's candidate is overwhelming. We led a bike rally of 36 km and received love and support from people. Village after village, people have overwhelmingly supported us," he said.
Bavaliya sounded confident of retaining the seat.
"I am going to win by a huge margin...People turned up in large number to support our rally. They are united in support of the BJP candidate. Congress is misleading people to get their vote.
"I promise that the issue of drinking water will become a thing of the past. Other important issues will be resolved after I win," Bavaliya said.
Congress nominee Nakiya, too, appeared upbeat on the poll eve.
"People of Jasdan are very angry (with Bavaliya). People will vote against BJP and I am confident of winning by a margin of 45,000-50,000 votes," said Nakiya.
From what appeared as a sop ahead of the bypoll, the state government Tuesday announced a complete waiver of Rs 625 crore in unpaid electricity bills under its one-time settlement scheme for over 6 lakh people living in Gujarat's rural areas.
Jasdan is largely a rural constituency.
The Congress, however, continued to demand a loan waiver for distressed farmers in the state.
A total of 19 candidates are in the fray in Jasdan, but the main contest is likely to be between Bavaliya and Nakiya.
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