Just a month after a bridge collapse killed 135 people, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kantilal Amritiya appeared to win the Gujarat assembly seat of Morbi on Thursday. Amritiya had become a hero in the bridge collapse tragedy.
The video of Amrutiya diving into the river to save the survivors attracted a lot of attention. Amritiya received widespread acclaim and the moniker “morbi hero“For his work.
Morbi became a sensitive constituency for the BJP after the city’s British-era suspension bridge collapsed on 30 October, killing 135 people, and raising concerns that it could influence election results.
Morbi is dominated by Patidar voters, which is considered a traditional stronghold of the Bharat Janata Party (BJP).
The BJP dropped sitting MLA and former minister Brijesh Merja in favor of Amritiya, who was not otherwise a candidate, believing that Amritiya’s popularity would benefit the party.
Congress candidate Jayanatilal Patel was defeated by Amritiya by a margin of over 16,000 votes. Aam Aadmi Party’s Pankaj Ranasaria got over 6,000 votes, making him the third.
After the ninth round of counting for the Morbi seat in Saurashtra region, Amrutiya got over 37,500 votes while Patel got over 20,000 votes.
(With inputs from PTI)
catch ’em all business News, market news, breaking news events and breaking news Update on Live Mint. download mint news app To get daily market updates.