Gujarat bypoll: Manjalpur seat up for grabs after death of veteran BJP leader Yogesh Patel

The July 30 bypoll for the Manjalpur Assembly constituency in Vadodara, Gujarat, marks the first time since 2008 that the seat will not feature veteran BJP leader Yogesh Patel. Patel, who won the constituency in three consecutive landslides and served eight terms in the Gujarat Assembly, died on June 2, necessitating the bypoll. His long dominance over the seat—built on a direct line to state leadership and even the Prime Minister—has left the BJP facing an unfamiliar question: who inherits Manjalpur after Patel?

For the BJP, the by-election is not merely about retaining one of its safest seats. Patel's candidature had already posed a dilemma for the party in the 2022 Assembly polls. Despite an unwritten rule discouraging candidates above 75 years, the party renominated Patel, then aged 77, after internal lobbying. His name was the last announced among 182 BJP candidates, reflecting the internal churn within the Vadodara city unit. Senior leaders recall that the nomination came as a “surprise” as Patel had not figured in the Parliamentary Board’s original reckoning. However, the decision proved fruitful: Patel's winning margin swelled each election, reaching over a lakh votes in 2022.

Patel's dominance extended beyond electoral politics. Though a member of the Leuva Patidar community, his personal following cut across caste lines in a constituency with no single dominant group. Other Backward Classes (OBCs) form the largest bloc in Manjalpur, followed by Patidars, alongside sizeable Brahmin, Vaniya, and Marathi populations. “With Yogesh Kaka now gone, factional balancing is not possible any more. The demand for a Patidar successor is likely to collide with rival camps pushing OBC or other upper-caste contenders,” a senior BJP leader said.

With the bypoll approaching, the local BJP unit has entered a high-stakes lobbying war. For years, internal factions suppressed their ambitions because challenging “Kaka” was out of the question. Although the BJP is yet to announce a candidate, Vadodara city BJP president Jayprakash Soni and senior leader Smruti Bhave—both with RSS backgrounds—are seen as frontrunners, along with former city party chief Vijay Shah. Other aspirants have also begun individual campaigns to make their case for the ticket.

Patel's political journey began with the Congress in the 1970s. He moved to Maneka Gandhi’s Sanjay Vichar Manch in the 1980s, shifted to the Janata Dal with which he won his first electoral contest in 1990, and finally joined the BJP in 1995. A self-confessed Shiva devotee, he spearheaded Vadodara’s annual Shivratri Yatra and successfully pushed for the iconic 111-foot Shiva statue in Sursagar Lake.