Co-operative circle of Gujarat was aghast for whole of Monday as the news of Dileep Sanghani trailing behind the Congress candidate began to trickle in. An ace cooperator and BJP candidate from Amreli Dileepbhai Sanghani lost to his Congress rival by about 15 thousands votes in Dhari constituency.
It is worth mentioning that the party had fielded him as a replacement for the sitting MLA Nalin Kotadiya. J.V.Kakadiya candidate from Indian National Congress was declared winner.
Talking to this correspondent on the phone after the election result was announced Sanghani said “Patels did not support us fully but we are happy that again Bharatiya Janata Party has won the State Assembly election with an impressive number of seats. We are celebrating the day”.
However, his defeat has shocked cooperators across the country as his win was considered a certainty. Cooperators
All the five Assembly seats in Amreli were won by Congress candidates.
Meanwhile, Vijay Rupani, the current Chief Minister of Gujarat won from Rajkot West seat with a margin of over 25,000 votes. Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Patel too has won Mehsana albeit with a slim margin.
Sanghani had been elected MLA from Amreli three times in the past. He had also been elected Member of Parliament from Amreli four terms. He was a Cabinet Minister in 2007 with Narendra Modi as the Chief Minister.
‘Dhari’ is a town located in Amreli District of Gujarat with 2.1 lakh voters and 30 percent of the total population is Patidar and the remaining 70 percent Kadiya Kumbhar, Brahmin and sundry other castes.