Lalithbhai Vasoya, Congress Candidate From Porbandar (image@LalithVasoya)

The Indian National Congress fielded Lalitbhai Vasoya from Gujarat’s Porbandar. Expressing his gratitude over receiving his ticket, Mr Vasoya said that he would fight the general polls with “full strength”. He will face a tight competition against Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

Taking a jibe at the BJP, he said that the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and state “does not have the support base”. Vasoya is the seasoned Congress leader. He was earlier elected as the MLA from Dhoraji, an assembly constituency near Porbandar.

Reportedly, Vasoya seems to put forward a formidable challenge to the BJP minister. Porbandar has been a strong hold of Congress until its former MLA Arjun Modhwadia defected the opposition party.

Porbandar is one of the key battle grounds of the 26 Lok Sabha Constituencies in Gujarat state. The seat belongs to general category. During the 2019 Lok Sabah election, BJP’s Rameshbhai Lavjibhai Dhaduk won with a margin of 2,28,128 votes. In 2019, Lalitbhai Vasoya came in second. That year, the constituency witnessed a 56.79 percent voter turnout.

Lalitbhai Vasoya often finds himself amidst controversy. In 2022, he came under serious scrutiny when he asked votes for BJP. After the declaration of 2022 Gujarat assembly elections, Congress took out a ‘Parivartan Sankalp Yatra’ in Dhoraji. During the YatraVsoya stirred controversy by asking votes for BJP.

While addressing the people, Vasoya said, “if someone talks about the Aam Aadmi Party in their area, then I say from the platform that instead of voting from the Aam Aadmi Party, vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party”. He later clarified that what he meant was AAP is the B team of BJP. He said, “My intention behind saying that it is better to vote for BJP than to vote for Aam Aadmi was that Aam Aadmi Party is running at the behest of BJP. Why should I appeal to vote for BJP? In 2022, I myself am a candidate for Dhoraji Constituency”.