Ahmedabad:As the BJP rollercoaster continues in Gujarat Assembly polls 2022 with the party set for a record win in the western state, BJP's CM face Bhupendra Patel and his new cabinet are likely to take oath on December 11 or 12.
Bhupendra Patel is headed for a second straight win from the urban constituency of Ghatlodia, where he had taken an insurmountable lead of almost 1.16 lakh votes over his nearest rival.
Patidar-dominated Ghatlodia, which is part of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, has given Gujarat two chief ministers - Bhupendra Patel and Anandiben Patel. It is a stronghold of the BJP.
In 2017, despite the Patidar quota agitation, Bhupendra Patel had won the seat with a huge margin of 1.17 lakh votes. The BJP has already announced that Patel will be given the top post again after this election.
Ghatlodia, which has around 3.70 lakh voters, became a new assembly constituency following the delimitation exercise undertaken in 2012. Earlier, it was a part of Sarkhej constituency. In 2012, Anandiben Patel - then chief minister of Gujarat -- had won the seat with a margin of more than 1.1 lakh.
To make an impact in Ghatlodia, the Congress party fielded noted lawyer and activist Amiben Yagnik whose door-to-door campaign focussed on price rise, unemployment and corruption during Patel's tenure as CM. Besides Patidars, the other dominant social group comprises the Rabaris, who are classified as OBC and are mostly split between Congress and BJP.
