Gujarat Lok Sabha elections 2024: Voting for 25 out of 26 seats in Gujarat will take place in the third phase of the ongoing general elections on May 7. Voting will not take place in Surat as Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed last week after Congress' Nilesh Kumbhani's nomination was rejected while other candidates withdrew from the contest.
Seats that will go to polls in Gujarat on May 7 are Kachchh, Banaskantha, Patan, Mahesana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad East, Ahmedabad West, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Anand, Kheda, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Chhota Udaipur, Bharuch, Bardoli, Navsari, and Valsad.
Among the candidates to watch in the Gujarat contest are Union Home Minister Amit Shah from Gandhinagar, Union minister and former Gujarat minister Parshottam Rupala from Rajkot, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya from Porbandar, state BJP chief CR Paatil from Navsari as well as BJP's Mansukhbhai Vasava versus AAP's Chaitar Vasava from Bharuch.
Key seats, candidates to watch in Gujarat LS elections 2024
| Constituency | NDA | INDIA |
| Gandhinagar | Amit Shah (BJP) | Sonal Patel (Congress) |
| Rajkot | Parshottam Rupala (BJP) | Paresh Dhanani (Congress) |
| Porbandar | Mansukh Mandaviya (BJP) | Lalitbhai Vasoya (Congress) |
| Anand | Mitesh Rameshbhai Patel (BJP) | Amitbhai Chavda (Congress) |
| Bhavnagar | Nimu Bambhania (BJP) | Umesh Makwana (AAP) |
| Bharuch | Mansukhbhai Vasava (BJP) | Chaitar Vasava (AAP) |
| Dahod | Jasvantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor (BJP) | Prabhaben Taviyad (Congress) |
| Navsari | CR Paatil (BJP) | Naishadh Desai (Congress) |
Mukesh Dalal elected unopposed in Surat
Last week, BJP's Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed as the MP for Surat. Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbani's form was rejected by the Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi after his three proposers claimed in an affidavit to the district election officer that they did not sign his nomination form.
In his order, Pardhi said all other 8 candidates in the fray withdrew their nominations except Mukesh Dalal. Commenting on Dalal's unopposed election, Gujarat BJP chief CR Paatil said that his win was dedicated to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He added the BJP state unit was confident that the saffron party would repeat its 2019 performance and win all 16 seats in the state.
What happened in 2019, 2014 general elections?
In the 2014 and 2019 general elections, the saffron party won all 26 seats in the state. The Congress, however, failed to bag any seats in Gujarat in both these elections.