Satish Patel takes oath as Manjalpur MLA after BJP retained seat in Gujarat bypoll

Gandhinagar, Aug 11 (AHN) Newly elected Manjalpur MLA Satish Patel took the oath as a member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly in Gandhinagar on Tuesday, days after winning the Vadodara constituency in a by-election that saw the BJP retain the seat.

Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary administered the oath of office to Patel in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

Chief Whip Balkrishna Shukla, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rushikesh Patel, other members of the state Council of Ministers and several MLAs were also present at the ceremony.

Patel was elected from Manjalpur in the bypoll held on July 30, which was necessitated by the death of veteran BJP MLA Yogesh Patel in June. The counting of votes took place on August 3.

According to election results after counting, Patel defeated Congress candidate and former Minister Bhikha Rabari by more than 30,000 votes.

The BJP candidate secured 55,481 votes against Rabari's 24,851, winning by a margin of 30,630 votes. The bypoll recorded a turnout of about 37.5 per cent.

Patel's victory ensured that the BJP retained Manjalpur, a seat it has held since 2012. His candidature had attracted attention before the election because the BJP chose him despite him being based in Chhani rather than Manjalpur.

He is a veteran of the cooperative sector and has also served as chairman of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation's standing committee.

The bypoll followed the death of Yogesh Patel, who had represented Manjalpur in the 2012, 2017 and 2022 Assembly elections after previously representing Raopura.

He had won eight consecutive Assembly elections during a political career spanning 36 years.

After his victory, Satish Patel said, “The voters of Manjalpur Assembly have given me the same support that they had given to Yogesh Kaka. I will take this responsibility forward.”

Following the oath-taking ceremony, the leaders present congratulated Patel and conveyed their best wishes for his tenure as an MLA.

His induction formally completes the transition to the new BJP representative for the constituency following the by-election.