Gujarat bypolls: BJP ahead in Kadi, AAP leads by thin margin in Visavadar
Ahmedabad (PTI): AAP candidate Gopal Italia was leading by a thin margin in Visavadar while BJP's Rajendra Chavda was ahead in Kadi after the initial rounds of counting on Monday for bypolls to the two assembly seats in Gujarat, officials said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded their candidates in the two seats, where the byelections were held on June 19.
The Visavadar seat in Junagadh district fell vacant in December 2023 after the then AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP.
The Kadi constituency in Mehsana district, reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, was lying vacant since February 4 following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki.
After the completion of two rounds of counting, AAP's former Gujarat president Gopal Italia was leading in Visavadar by 391 votes.
While Italia received 7,179 votes, his close rival and BJP candidate Kirit Patel was behind with 6,788 votes after two rounds, as per data shared by the Election Commission.
In Kadi, BJP's Rajendra Chavda gained a leading position with 12,701 votes while Congress' Ramesh Chavda was trailing with 6,949 votes.
The bypolls last week witnessed 57.90 per cent voter turnout in Kadi and 56.89 per cent in Visavadar.
The Congress has fielded Nitin Ranpariya in Visavadar.
Despite its near-total dominance in the state, the BJP has not won the Visavadar seat since 2007. Party leaders earlier said they were hopeful of overcoming the 18-year jinx this time.
In the last assembly election in 2022, AAP's Bhupendra Bhayani defeated BJP's Harshad Ribadiya, a Congress turncoat and former MLA, by 7,063 votes.
For the Kadi bypoll, the Congress gave ticket to Ramesh Chavda, a former MLA, who won the seat in 2012, but lost it to BJP's Karsanbhai Solanki in 2017.
Like Visavadar, there is a three-way fight in Kadi also, with the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP fielding Jagdish Chavda.
In the 182-member Gujarat assembly, the BJP currently has 161 legislators, Congress 12 and AAP four. While one seat is with the Samajwadi Party, two are with independents.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
