Bardoli, April 26 : The political atmosphere in the Bardoli Lok Sabha constituency has intensified, as candidates are gearing up for the upcoming elections.

Prabhu Vasava, the incumbent MP and a former Congress MLA who switched to the BJP in 2014, is set to defend his seat.

Vasava, who won the Bardoli seat for the BJP in both the 2014 and 2019 elections, on March 20 addressed his followers about a fraudulent Facebook page impersonating him, reflecting the high stakes of the digital campaign.

Challenging Vasava is Siddharth Chaudhary, a new face from the Congress who is the son of former Congress MP Amar Singh Chaudhary.

Siddharth Chaudhary, who has served as the President of the Vyara Taluka Panchayat and is a member of the Zilla Panchayat, is a prominent figure in the ST community.

Siddharth Chaudhary's involvement with the Youth Congress and his current role as the opposition in the Tapi Zilla Panchayat underscores his long-standing commitment to public service.

The Bardoli constituency, a reserved seat for Scheduled Tribes, encompasses seven Assembly constituencies including Mangrol, Mandvi, Kamrej, Bardoli, Mahuva, Vyara and Nizar.

This seat has been a stronghold of the BJP since its establishment after the 2008 delimitation, which transformed it from the former Mandvi Lok Sabha constituency.

Bardoli holds a significant place in the history of India's freedom movement, notably for the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928 led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. It played a crucial role in the struggle against colonial rule and this is where Vallabhbhai Patel earned the title 'Sardar.'

Bardoli, the constituency's namesake, is a municipality situated about 35 km east of Surat in the Surat Metropolitan Region, on the banks of the Mindhola River.

The city boasts a literacy rate of 86.78 per cent and the first election in this constituency was held in 2009, with Tushar Amarsinh Chaudhari from the Congress being elected as its inaugural MP.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Parbhubhai Vasava of the BJP won the seat with 742,273 votes, while Tushar Amarsinh Chaudhari of the Congress secured 526,826 votes.

Additionally, 22,914 voters opted for the NOTA option.

Previously, in the 2014 elections, Parbhubhai Vasava again represented the BJP, capturing the seat with 622,769 votes, which accounted for 51.6 per cent of the total votes, compared to Tushar Amarsinh Chaudhari of the Congress, who received 498,885 votes or 41.4 per cent of the vote share.

In the last two Lok Sabha elections, the BJP achieved a clean sweep in Gujarat, securing all 26 seats in a state where the party has held uninterrupted power since 1998.

This track record showcases the BJP's dominance, even as signs of challenges have begun to emerge.

With Gujarat voting in Phase 3 on May 7 for the upcoming elections, the BJP is aiming to retain all 26 seats and setting a more ambitious goal. The party now aims to win each seat by 500,000 votes.

/IANS