Newly elected Manjalpur MLA Satish Patel on Monday dedicated his victory in the Gujarat Assembly by-election to the late BJP leader and former minister Yogesh Patel, saying he would carry forward the work undertaken by his predecessor after securing a comfortable win in the constituency.
Speaking after the results were declared, Satish Patel thanked the electorate and party workers for their support and said the BJP continued to enjoy the confidence of the people in Manjalpur.
"As Manjalpur Assembly constituency has been a stronghold of the BJP, the people have always shown great affection towards the party," Patel said.
He paid tribute to the late Yogesh Patel, who represented the constituency for several terms before his death led to the by-election.
"Late Yogesh Patel worked in this constituency for the past 25 years. The same affection that the people gave him has now been extended to me as well, and I am happy about that," he said.
Patel expressed gratitude to voters and BJP workers for the mandate. "I am deeply thankful to all the people, the voter brothers and sisters, and our party workers," he said.
The newly elected MLA also revealed that he visited the residence of the late leader soon after his victory.
"Today, I went to Yogesh Kaka's house and sought the blessings of his wife, whom we affectionately call Kakiji. I will continue the work that Yogesh Kaka had undertaken," Patel said.
The BJP retained the Manjalpur Assembly seat after Satish Patel defeated Congress candidate Bhikha Rabari by 30,630 votes.
Patel secured 55,481 votes, while Rabari received 24,851 votes, according to the official results declared after 20 rounds of counting.
The by-election was necessitated by the death of Yogesh Patel, an eight-time MLA who had been one of the BJP's most prominent leaders in Vadodara.
Satish Patel, a former Vadodara Municipal Corporation councillor, former chairman of the civic body's Standing Committee and former BJP Vadodara district president, was chosen by the party to contest the seat.
Polling for the by-election was held on July 30 and concluded peacefully with a 37.50 per cent voter turnout, lower than the 60.15 per cent recorded in the 2022 Assembly election.
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