Geniben Thakor won the Lok Sabha election from Banaskantha. (File)
After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s two successive clean sweeps in Gujarat in Lok Sabha polls, Congress finally opened its account in the state with a crucial victory by Geniben Thakor. But Ms Thakor's win over BJP's Rekhaben Chaudhari in the Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat is special for more than one reason. The two-time MLA from the Vav seat registered a victory by a margin of 30,406 votes.
Here are some key facts about Geniben Thakor:
- Born on January 1, 1975, Geniben Thakor holds a BA degree (distance education) from Jain Vishva Bharati Institute Ladnun.
- She made her electoral debut in 2012 when she unsuccessfully contested the assembly elections from the Vav constituency. Five years later, in Gujarat Assembly elections, she defeated senior BJP leader Shankar Chaudhary by over 6,000 votes, earning the moniker "giant slayer". She retained her seat in the 2022 elections.
- She was one of the 16 MLAs suspended by the Gujarat Assembly last year for protesting against the suspension of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as an MP. In February 2024, Ms Thakor and 10 other Congress MLAs were suspended again for speaking about fake government offices in the state. The suspension lasted a day, covering two Assembly meetings.
- In 2024, Ms Thakor, despite facing financial constraints, decided to contest the general elections. Her campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls was crowdfunded after Congress said it wasn't in a position to financially back its nominees.
- Ms Thakor is known for her strong stand against alcohol and for implementing the liquor ban. Last year, her brother, Ramesh Nagaji, was caught in a drunken state and with a huge quantity of alcohol. Ms Thakor didn't back down from her stance, even when it involved her family.
- She also advocated for amendments to the Marriage Act. She proposed that parental signatures become mandatory for marriage registrations and insisted that such registrations occur in the taluka where the couple lives.