Can Amit Shah Win His First Lok Sabha Battle From Gandhinagar?

He may be a master strategist and the key to sewing up coalitions to strengthen Bharatiya Janta party (BJP),  but Amit Shah is now contesting his first ever Lok Sabha battle from Gandhinagar. 

Shah is contesting from a seat previously represented by party stalwarts like former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee , former home minister Lal Krishan Advani and former Election Commissioner and Congress leader TN Seshan.

Advani had won this seat six times from 1991 to 2014, barring the 1996 polls when Vajpayee had contested from Gandhinagar as well as Lucknow. BJP’s dropping of Advani from its list of candidates signalled an end of road in electoral politics for him. 

Shah is contesting against Congress leader and two-time MLA from Gandhinagar North CJ Chavda.   

Gandhinagar constituency is dominated by Patidars, followed by Thakors. Though Congress is expecting that Patidars may support the party after the quota agitation, it seems a distant reality as was visible in the 2017 state elections, in which the community supported the BJP.   

In the past, Shah had won the Gujarat Assembly elections four times from Sarkhej constituency (before delimitation), and once from Naranpura seat (after delimitation), both of which are part of Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat.  

He had also acted as in-charge of Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat for Advani, when the national leader was busy campaigning for the BJP in other parts of country in 2009. 

(With PTI inputs)