Bhagabhai Dhanabhai Barad Ahir was elected as MLA from the Talala constituency in the 2017 Gujarat Vidhan Sabha election on the Indian National Congress ticket for the second term. He, however, resigned on November 9, 2022, from the party and the Gujarat Assembly and joined the BJP. Barad comes from an old political family with a long alliance with Congress. His now-deceased brother Jashu Barad was a minister in the Congress government in the 1990s. Bhagabhai was defeated by BJP's Govindbhai Parmar in the 2016 bypoll from the same constituency. However, he avenged his defeat in 2017 when he won the seat by defeating Parmar. Barad is taking on Congress party's Mansingbhai Jesingbhai Dodiya and AAP candidate Devender Kanjibhai Solanki.