Lok Sabha elections: Four pillars that play big role in BJP win

Of the seven assembly constituencies falling in the Gandhinagar

Lok Sabha

seat, Ghatlodia, Vejalpur, Sabarmati and Naranpura have remained main contributors to victory margins of Gandhinagar Lok Sabha candidates.

An analysis of data from post polls reveals that rural areas — Sanand and Kalol — apart from Gandhinagar City have always given the BJP a tough time. In the last two elections after delimitation, a majority of voters of Gandhinagar North favoured the Congress in 2017 assembly polls. In 2012, the BJP candidate could win the this assembly seat with a margin less than 5,000 votes. Kalol and Sanand too have favoured the Congress. In 2017, Karamsinh Makwana, the 2012 Congress MLA who switched his loyalty to the BJP, sought ticket for his son Kanu Patel, who managed to win with a margin of 7,721 votes.

The voters of other four seats have always given huge leads to L K Advani in the

Lok Sabha elections

. The biggest contributor to the victory margin remains Ghatlodia. In 2009, of the 1.55 lakh votes polled in Ghatlodia, over one lakh were bagged by Advani. In 2014 elections also, of the 2.22 lakh votes polled the constituency, Advani got 1.79 lakh votes.