Modi wrests Kathlal from Cong

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Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi broke all records and snatched away the prestigious Kathlal seat from the Congress in a bypoll here on Friday.
Kathlal in central Gujarat had been with the Congress since the inception of Gujarat since 1960 but Congress infighting ensured that the BJP wrestled away the seat with Mr Modi being the star campaigner.
In results declared on Friday, the BJP broke into the Congress bastion and bagged a lead of over 21,000 votes.
Incidentally, it was Narendra Modi’s birthday and he thanked the Congress for what he called a perfect birthday gift.
Kathlal went to polls following death of sitting Congress MLA Gautam Jala.
This is the first time the BJP has won the seat, located in central Gujarat, which is considered a strong bastion for the Congress party. Kanubhai Dabhi of BJP bagged 62,120 votes against 40,573 votes of Ghelabhai Jhala (Congress).
Overjoyed, the BJP leaders termed it the best gift for Mr Narendra Modi on his 60th birthday.
“This win is significant as it marks the defeat of the Congress-CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) conspiracy,” Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi said in a celebratory tone. He was refering to former home minister Amit Shah, arrested for his alleged involvement in the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh.
District Congress president Ramsinh Parmar, however, attributed the ruling BJP’s victory to large-scale misuse of official machinery in order to ensure BJP candidate’s victory at the election for which polling was held September 13 with over 62 per cent of people casting their vote.
Meanwhile, Kheda district BJP president Bimal Shah said the result of Kathlal by poll will have positive impact on the local bodies polls to be held next month.
In the state, six municipal corporations in Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar and 24 district panchayats would go for elections on October 10 and 21 respectively.
At present, the BJP controls all the six municipal corporations and 22 district panchayats.