A 40-year-old leader from the OBC (Other Backward Classes) community, Alpesh Thakor, won in Radhanpur constituency in Gujarat, beating his Bharatiya Janata Party rival by around 15,000 votes. Thakor joined the Congress just ahead of the election.
Thakor is the convenor of the OBC, ST and ST Ekta Manch, which he started last year. Radhanpur has been a BJP bastion since 1998, but on Monday, the OBC leader from Congress surged ahead with over 85,000 votes. His BJP rival, Lavingji Thakor, had joined BJP ahead of the election after being denied a Congress ticket.
The highest number of voters in the constituency belong to the Thakor community, closely followed by the Chaudhary group. Alpesh Thakor is the son of Congress leader Khodaji Thakore, who reportedly switched from BJP to Congress in the mid 1990s.
Alpesh Thakor has passionately campaigned against liquor addiction in Gujarat earlier, but turned to politics to help the farmer community.
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