Gujarat: Congress nominee set to retain Vav assembly seat

Congress candidate Geniben Thakor was on course to retain the Vav assembly seat in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district on Thursday.

After 24 rounds of counting of votes, Thakor bagged 100652 votes against BJP’s Swarupji Thakor who polled 85415 votes, a difference of 15237 votes.

In the 2017 elections, Geniben defeated Shankar Chaudhary, chairman of Banas Dairy, Asia's largest dairy cooperative. This propelled her as an influential leader of Thakor community in the north-Gujarat.

She was also closely associated with Alpesh Thakor, who had shot into the spotlight for his OBC quota stir in the last assembly polls.

Her strong statements, including a recent remark advocating to burn rape accused alive, triggered controversy but also won her a large fan following with some admirers describing her as their own “Mayawati” who fights with authorities for their welfare.

She had snatched the seat from the BJP in 2017, after Congress lost it twice consecutively.