New Delhi: Rivaba Jadeja, wife of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, Thursday won her debut election from Jamnagar (North) in Gujarat with the margin of over 53,000 votes.
While Rivaba secured 88,835 votes, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Karsan Karmur polled 35,265 votes, way ahead of veteran Congress leader Bipendrasinh Jadeja. Congress trailed behind with 23,274 votes from the constituency, which is part of the Saurashtra region.
Jamnagar (North) had voted in the first phase of Gujarat assembly election on 1 December.
The BJP had dropped its sitting MLA Merubha Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and chose to field first-timer Rivaba, who joined the party in 2019, from the Jamnagar (North) seat.
While 32-year-old Rivaba is from Junagadh, her husband, leg spinner Ravindra Jadeja is from Jamnagar. Notably, Ravindra Jadeja comes from a family of Congress leaders. His sister Naina Jadeja is the Jamnagar district Congress women wing chief. Naina also campaigned for veteran Congress leader Bipendrasinh Jadeja.
During campaigning, a video of Ravindra Jadeja’s father Anirudhsinh Jadeja appealing to people to vote for the Congress had gone viral.
Rivaba is also the niece of another veteran Congress leader Hari Singh Solanki.
The BJP dropped its sitting MLA Merubha Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, who had won with 58.95 per cent votes in 2017, defeating Congress’ Ahir Jivanbhai Karubhai Kumbharvadiya, who polled 30 per cent votes. While BJP’s candidate secured 84,327 votes, Congress got 43,364 votes. Merubha Dharmendrasinh Jadeja was made party in-charge of Jamnagar.
In 2012, the Congress had won from the seat. BJP’s Merubha Dharmendrasinh Jadeja was, at the time, with the Congress.
The Jamnagar (North) assembly constituency is part of the Jamnagar Lok Sabha constituency. Except for 2004 and 2009, when Congress won from the Jamnagar parliamentary seat, the BJP has managed to keep the seat since 1989.
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)