Gandhinagar, August 11: Newly elected Manjalpur MLA Satish Patel took his oath on Tuesday in Gandhinagar as a member of the Gujarat Assembly. This ceremony followed the BJP’s recent victory in the Vadodara by-election, where the party successfully retained the seat.
Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary administered the oath in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. The event was attended by Chief Whip Balakrishna Shukla, Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs Rishikesh Patel, other members of the state cabinet, and several MLAs.
Patel was elected from Manjalpur in the by-election held on July 30, necessitated by the passing of senior BJP MLA Yogesh Patel in June. The vote counting took place on August 3.
According to the election results, Patel defeated Congress candidate and former minister Bhikha Rabari by over 30,000 votes. The BJP candidate received 55,481 votes, while Rabari garnered 24,851 votes, resulting in a victory margin of 30,630 votes. The by-election saw a voter turnout of approximately 37.5%.
Patel’s victory solidified the BJP’s hold on the Manjalpur seat, which it has occupied since 2012. His candidacy attracted attention as he was chosen by the BJP while residing in Chhani rather than Manjalpur.
He is an experienced leader in the cooperative sector and has previously served as the chairman of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s standing committee.
This by-election followed the death of Yogesh Patel, who represented Manjalpur in the 2012, 2017, and 2022 assembly elections, and had previously represented Ravpura. Throughout his 36-year political career, he won eight consecutive assembly elections.
After his victory, Satish Patel stated, “The voters of Manjalpur have given me the same support they provided to Yogesh kaka. I will carry forward this responsibility.”
Following the oath-taking ceremony, attending leaders congratulated Patel and wished him well for his term as an MLA. With his inclusion, the process of formally appointing a new BJP representative for this constituency after the by-election has been completed.
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