BJP leader and Union Minister Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary is the current member of Parliament from Banaskantha Lok Sabha Constituency of Gujarat. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Haribhai Parthibhaihad defeated Congress' Joitabhai Kasnabhai Patel with a margin of 202,334 votes. Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had fielded Parsotamgiri Turantgiri Mahant from the seat and had won 11,175 votes.
Haribhai had also won the seat in the 2013 by-election by defeating Congress candidate Krishnaben Mukeshkumar Gadhvi.
Gujarat Lok Sabha constituencies: All you need to know
Banaskantha Lok Sabha constituency of Gujarat: Full list of candidates, polling dates
Lok Sabha constituency: Banaskantha
Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary(BJP): 5,07,856 (57.23%)
Joitabhai Kasnabhai Patel (Congress): 3,05,522 (34.43%)
Parsotamgiri Turantgiri Mahant (BSP): 11,175 (1.26%)
Babaji Thakor (Independent): 10,897 (1.23%)
Saybabhai Nanabhai Solanki (Indpendent): 7,207 (0.81%)
Total electoral in 2014: 1515711
Total voters in 2014: 887366
Poll percentage in 2014: 58.54%
This year, BJP dropped Haribhai Chaudhary from Banaskantha and fielded Parbatbhai Patel whereas Congress named Parthibhai Galbabhai Bhatol as its candidate.
The Banaskantha Parliamentary constituency (constituency number 2) has a total of 1,296,871 electorates out of which 627,536 are females and 669,335 are males according to Election Commission of India 2009 reports.
The Lok Sabha election here will be held in a single phase on April 23. The BJP had won all the 26 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha election in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP party chief Amit Shah.
Presently, Banaskantha Lok Sabha constituency comprises seven legislative assembly segments. These are — Vav, Tharad, Dhanera, Danta, Palanpur, Deesa, Deodar.
Banaskantha district is famous for the Ambaji temple, which draws many tourists. As of 2011, 13.27% of Banaskantha's population is urban and 86.70% is rural.
