Sunday, May 19

Gujarat: Jennyben Thummar, Congress’s New Face In Amreli Lok Sabha Constituency

Edited by Fathimathu Shana

Jennyben Thummar will be contesting from the Amreli constituency of Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district on the Indian National Congress’ ticket. Thummar is currently serving as the President of Gujarat Congress women’s wing. She has been serving as the president since 2018. She is the daughter of former MP of Amreli, Virji Thummar. Thummar is contesting against Bharatbhai Manubhai Sutariya of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress has changed their strategy in many places by opting for young faces rather than the older ones. One such young face is Thummar. This is the first time Thummar is setting foot in the election arena. BJP is also testing the waters by fielding Sutariya. The party fielded Sutariya by dropping the sitting MP Naranbhai Kachhadia.

The Amreli Lok Sabha constituency, one of Gujarat’s 26 parliamentary seats, was created in 1957. The constituency covers the entirety of the Amreli and Bhavnagar districts. It is comprised of seven Vidhan Sabha seats, including Mahuva, Rajula, Dhari, Amreli, Lathi, Savarkundla, and Gariadhar.

Amreli’s political story varied with time. After the Independence, Congress, India’s grand old party, dominated the constituency, winning seven elections between 1957 and 1984. However, in 1989, the Janata Dal put an end to this winning streak and emerged victorious. Since 1991, the BJP has been able to secure the seat under their clasp by bagging victories in seven out of eight Lok Sabha elections and has become the new dominant party on this seat.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Amreli will go for polling on May 7th, the third phase of the election.