Guj by-poll: BJP wrests Talala Assembly seat from Congress

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Govind Parmar on Thursday won the by-election to Talala Assembly constituency in Gir-Somnath district by defeating Congress candidate Bhagwanji Barad by over 2,000 votes.

The seat was earlier held by Congress. Parmar defeated Barad by a thin margin of 2,440 votes, Gir-Somnath Collector Ajay Kumar announced after the counting ended this afternoon. “Parmar received 63,896 votes while Barad received 61,456 votes. Thus, BJP candidate has won the elections by more than 2,000 votes,” Kumar said. The by-election was necessitated after Jasu Barad, the Congress MLA from the constituency, passed away in January. Around 63 per cent voter turnout was registered during the polling held on May 16.

While the Congress gave ticket to Jasu Barad’s younger brother, Bhagwanji Barad, BJP fielded Parmar, who had won the Talala seat in 2002.

This was the the second face-off between Bhagwanji Barad and Parmar as they had contested against each other on the same seat in the 2007 Assembly polls.