Gujarat Cong chief Gohil resigns after party’s defeat in bypolls to 2 Assembly seats

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil on Monday resigned from the post, taking the moral responsibility for the defeat of party candidates in bypolls to Kadi and Visavadar Assembly constituencies.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Italia won the Visavadar seat, while BJP candidate Rajendra Chavda bagged the Kadi (SC) constituency. Polling was held on June 19 and votes were counted on June 23.

In both Assembly segments, the Congress, once a formidable political force in Gujarat, put up a dismal performance, finishing a distant third in one of them.

Soon after the results were announced, Gohil put in his papers, saying the bypoll outcome was below Congress expectations.

“Since the Assembly bypoll results were not as per our expectations, I have taken the moral responsibility for my party’s defeat and resigned as president of the Gujarat Congress. I have mailed my resignation letter to our national president Mallikarjun Kharge,” Gohil said at a press conference.

Till the party appoints a new GPCC chief, senior MLA and Gujarat Congress general secretary Shailesh Parmar will function as the in-charge president, informed Gohil.

The 65-year-old Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat insisted he might not have made the decision to resign if the Opposition party had secured at least one of the two seats that went to bypolls.

Gohil was appointed as the state Congress president in June 2023 in the run-up to the 2024 general elections. Italia, a former Gujarat president of the AAP, defeated his nearest rival, BJP candidate Kirit Patel, in Visavadar in Junagadh district by a margin of 17,554 votes.

The AAP candidate secured 75,942 votes, followed by Kirit Patel (58,388), while Congress candidate Nitin Ranpariya came third with just 5,501.