Gujarat Congress President Shaktisinh Gohil announced on Friday that the party will contest the upcoming by-elections in the Visavadar and Kadi Assembly constituencies independently, opting not to partner with its INDIA bloc ally, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The decision, Gohil said, was made unanimously after reviewing electoral trends in the state. “Gujaratis have never voted for a third front. Here, it is either Congress or the BJP,” he stated.
Criticizing AAP’s past performance, Gohil added, “During the last elections, AAP gave it their best shot. Despite heavy campaigning by their top leaders, they secured only around 10.5–11 percent of the vote and ended up harming the Congress’s prospects.”
Positioning the Congress as the principal challenger to the BJP, he urged AAP to reconsider its participation in the bypolls. “To defeat the BJP, Congress is the main opposition party. We request AAP to withdraw their candidates for Visavadar and Kadi,” he said.
However, Gohil clarified that the Congress remains committed to the INDIA alliance at the national level. “On the national front, we are united under the INDIA alliance,” he noted.
The Visavadar seat in Junagadh fell vacant in December 2023 after AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the BJP. The Kadi seat in Mehsana, reserved for Scheduled Castes, became vacant following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki in February.
The Election Commission has not yet announced the bypoll dates.
This development follows the Congress’s AICC session held in Gujarat on April 8 and 9, where the party signaled a renewed push to reclaim political ground in a state it has not governed for over three decades. The party also reiterated its claim to the legacies of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi—both iconic leaders from Gujarat.
