3 min readSuratMay 8, 2026 05:20 AM IST
The death of a winning taluka panchayat member has put both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on edge in Bharuch’s Netrang, where the former had won the highest eight seats in the recent local body polls.
As things stand, the AAP and the BJP now have seven winning candidates each for the 16-member body of the tribal district. As such, both parties are vying to get the support of the lone Congress winning candidate to break the deadlock, their leaders said.
Gunvant Vasava, 62, who won from the Bilothi seat in Netrang on an AAP ticket, died at Surat’s Universal Hospital on Wednesday, days after he fell in a bathroom at a resort in Maharashtra’s Shahada on May 2, the AAP’s Gujarat working president Chaitar Vasava said.
“The doctors told us that the cause of his (Gunvant’s) death was brain hemorrhage. This was the first time Gunvant was elected to the Netrang taluka panchayat. Our full support is with his two sons and wife,” Chaitar, who’s the AAP MLA from Dediapada, told The Indian Express.
Gunvant and seven other AAP candidates were taken to a resort in Maharashtra’s Shahada, which neighbours Netrang, on May 1, amid fears of horse trading by the BJP, the Dediapada MLA said, adding the elected members had complained that the BJP and its workers were pressuring them for support.
“After the election results (on April 28), BJP leaders had gone to Gunvant Vasava’s residence, where they met his son Narpat and asked him to get his father to support or join the BJP, and offered him several posts. After that, the eight winning members from the AAP stayed for a few days at our party leader’s home in Valia taluka. On May 1, they were taken to a resort in neighbouring Shahada,” the MLA said.
Meanwhile, Netrang taluka BJP president Mansukh Vasava confirmed that the party had approached the Congress. “We are in talks with the Congress party to get the support of their lone elected member. We are ready to offer her a vice-president position or any committee member position, but not the president’s, in Netrang. We were unable to contact the AAP elected members, as they have been shifted to Shahada, Maharashtra, and are not allowed to answer calls from unknown numbers.”
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“Congress’s Nayna Rahul Prajapati, who won from the Netrang-2 seat, is key to both parties. We spoke with the Congress president, Rajendrasinh Rana, to seek support from the elected Congress member. The terms and conditions are yet to be discussed,” the AAP MLA said.
Meanwhile, Netrang taluka Congress president Surendra Vasava said the party had received offers from both the AAP and the BJP. “We have asked Nayna not to talk to anybody or make any deal.”
In the 2021 elections, the BJP won eight seats in Netrang, followed by the Bharatiya Tribal Party winning five, and the Congress three.
On Thursday, several AAP leaders from Bharuch and Narmada, including Chaitar Vasava, attended Gunvant’s funeral rituals held at Bilothi.
