Bharatsinh Solanki, the Congress' Anand Lok Sabha candidate, is confident of wresting the seat from the BJP and claims it is his party's safest bet in Gujarat. He said if the Congress cannot win Anand Lok Sabha seat, in central Gujarat, then it can't win any of the 26 seats in the state.

Anand has traditionally been a Congress stronghold, the party having won from here ten times, while the BJP managed to wrest it in 1989, 1999 and 2014. Among the ten Congress victories, five belong to Solanki's maternal grandfather Ishwar Chavda between 1980 and 1998.

In the 2014 polls, the BJP had blanked out the Congress winning all 26 Lok Sabha seats. Anand, known as the milk capital of India and famous worldwide for the Amul dairy brand, is expected to see a close contest between Mr Solanki, two-time MP from here in 2004 and 2009, and the BJP's Mitesh Patel, a well-known businessman making his poll debut.

While BJP's Mitesh Patel claimed people here will vote in favour of BJP as they want to see Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister again, Mr Solanki said basic issues such as lack of employment and farm distress would ensure a Congress win.

Bharatsinh Solanki, the Congress' Anand Lok Sabha candidate, is confident of wresting the seat from the BJP and claims it is his party's safest bet in Gujarat. He said if the Congress cannot win Anand Lok Sabha seat, in central Gujarat, then it can't win any of the 26 seats in the state.

Anand has traditionally been a Congress stronghold, the party having won from here ten times, while the BJP managed to wrest it in 1989, 1999 and 2014. Among the ten Congress victories, five belong to Solanki's maternal grandfather Ishwar Chavda between 1980 and 1998.

In the 2014 polls, the BJP had blanked out the Congress winning all 26 Lok Sabha seats. Anand, known as the milk capital of India and famous worldwide for the Amul dairy brand, is expected to see a close contest between Mr Solanki, two-time MP from here in 2004 and 2009, and the BJP's Mitesh Patel, a well-known businessman making his poll debut.

While BJP's Mitesh Patel claimed people here will vote in favour of BJP as they want to see Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister again, Mr Solanki said basic issues such as lack of employment and farm distress would ensure a Congress win.