Godhra: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate C K Raulji was on Thursday leading over his Congress rival Rashmitaben Chauhan after eight rounds of counting of votes in Godhra assembly seat of Gujarat. Raulji was ahead by more than 25,000 votes over Chauhan in the communally-sensitive Assembly seat of Godhra, where the burning of a train had triggered one of India's worst post-Partition riots 20 years back.
Raulji has been representing Godhra since 2007 as Congress MLA from 2007 to 2016 and as a BJP legislator since 2017. Godhra, where communal fissures still persist and where voting takes place largely on religious lines, has around 2,79,000 voters. Of these, 72,000 are in the Muslim-dominated area. Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Rajeshbhai Patel and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)'s Shabbir Kachba are also in the fray.
In the Godhra Municipal Council polls last year, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM had made an impressive debut by winning seven seats. It was eyeing to cement its position in the assembly elections this time. (PTI)
