Rivaba lauds PM Modi after winning from Jamnagar North, vows to take reforms forward

BJP’s Rivaba Jadeja, along with her husband and cricketer Ravindra Jadeja took part in a victory roadshow in Jamnagar on December 8 after defeating AAP’s Karsanbhai Karmur and Congress' Bipendrasinh Jadeja from the Jamnagar North constituency. 

Rivaba bagged 88,119 votes, AAP’s Karmur secured 34,818 votes and Congress’ Jadeja came third managing to get only 23,088 votes, according to the election commission. Notably, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (Hakubha), the sitting MLA from the region was replaced with Rivaba. In a massive victory for the saffron party in Gujarat, all previous records are set to be broken as BJP is all set to surpass Congress’ previous best performance of winning 149 seats in the 182-seat assembly in 1985. When reports last came in, BJP had recorded a win in 142 seats and was ahead in 14. 

‘Taking ahead the development agenda, a priority’: Rivaba

"The image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a major impact on the poll results," said Rivaba, adding, “The poll results show, people of Gujarat want to continue the decades-old development journey with the BJP. The love of the people of Gujarat towards PM Narendra Modi, from his journey as a CM to becoming the PM has progressively increased over the years, the world over people of Gujarat love him and this image of him has had a natural impact on the election result. My priority will be to make a collective effort with other legislators to take the development agenda of the state forward.” 

It’s pertinent to mention, Rivaba had joined BJP in 2019 after Ravindra Jadeja’s father Aniruddhsinh and sister Naynaba joined Congress. Ahead of the elections, a video of Jadeja’s father had gone viral in several WhatsApp groups, where he was heard appealing to people to vote for the Congress.   

“Bipendrasinh Jadeja is contesting from the Congress in the Jamnagar North constituency. He is like my younger brother. I appeal to members of the Rajput community to help him win with a high number of votes,” he said in the video.

IMAGE: ANI