Jamnagar: Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja’s wife Rivaba Jadeja made an impressive debut in electoral politics as she defeated her nearest rival in the Jamnagar North constituency by 53,570 votes.
After 17 rounds of voting, Rivaba Jadeja had won 88,110 votes, while her nearest rival Karshan Karmur of the Aam Aadmi Party had polled 34,818 votes, the election commission said.
The Congress party’s Bipendrasinh Jadeja finished third with 23,088 votes.
Sibling rivalry was at play in Jamnagar North as Ravindra Jadeja batted for his wife Rivaba, while his sister Naynaba Jadeja campaigned for the Congress, bringing into the limelight this urban constituency where voters, like much of Gujarat, have again backed the ruling party.
The constituency had voted for the first time in 2012 after being carved out following delimitation. The Congress won it while the BJP grabbed it in 2017 after then-incumbent MLA Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, locally better known as Hakubha, crossed over to the BJP.
He was dropped this time in favour of Rivaba Jadeja.
The BJP though managed to placate Hakubha by making him the party’s in-charge for polling in three assembly seats in Jamnagar, including Jamnagar North.
An overwhelmingly urban constituency, Jamnagar North was always seen as more favourable to the BJP than the Congress. The performance of the Aam Aadmi Party, which fielded a not-so-known face, has come as a surprise.
The Jadejas are Rajputs, the community that dominates this constituency. Muslims make up the other decisive group of voters.
