Rajkot with a voter base of close to 22 lakh voters has emerged as a key constituency to watch out for. The BJP has fielded Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Parshottam Rupala as their key candidate. Meanwhile, the Congress has fielded Paresh Dhanani, an old-time Congress leader and MLA.
Both candidates are native to Amreli district but are new faces in Rajkot. Interestingly, Paresh Dhanani had defeated Purushottam Rupala with a margin of over two lakh votes in Gujarat State Assembly Elections of 2002.
After 21 years, they are readying for face off again. During peak campaign season, Rupala has irked the Kshatriya community in Gujarat by making remarks such as - “... Even kings and royals bowed down to the British, started family bonds with them, broke bread with them, and even married their daughters to them.”
