The ruling BJP on Tuesday scored a big win in Gujarat local polls by winning all 31 district panchayats and leading in 2,085 of 8,474 seats across various municipalities that voted on Sunday in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home State and establishing a wide gap with the closest rival Congress.
The PM and Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the BJP’s impressive show in Gujarat.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) bagged 16 seats on its debut in Gujarat.
The BJP gained a lead by winning 2,085 seats, while the Congress won 602 seats so far across various municipalities, district and taluka panchayats in Gujarat where results for 2,771 seats out of the total 8,474 were declared on Tuesday.
“Results of the Nagar Palika, Taluka Panchayat and District Panchayat polls across Gujarat give a crystal clear message — Gujarat is firmly with the BJP’s agenda of development and good governance. I bow to the people of Gujarat for the unwavering faith and affection towards BJP,” tweeted Modi.
Shah hailed the results of the municipal corporation elections in Gujarat, saying the BJP won around 85 per cent of the seats it contested and that the party continues on its “development journey” under the leadership of Modi.
The Home Minister too targeted the Congress, which saw a dismal performance. He said the Opposition party won only 44 seats, the number which the BJP won in Bhavnagar corporation alone.
“The municipal corporation poll results have again established Gujarat as BJP’s stronghold. The BJP continues on ‘Vikas yatra’ under the leadership of PM Modi. Today’s results are one of the best results in Gujarat,” the Home Minister said.
“The BJP has won around 85 per cent of the seats it contested, and the Congress has suffered badly in this election. The Congress won only 44 seats across the whole State, while the BJP bagged 44 seats in Bhavnagar corporation alone,” he added.
The Home Minister congratulated Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and the newly-elected State BJP chief CR Patil for the party’s performance.
BJP president JP Nadda said, “I thank the people of Gujarat for reposing their faith in BJP, a symbol of development and trust, in local body elections.”
There are total 8,474 seats across the three local bodies. Candidates in 237 seats remain unopposed, the State Election Commission (SEC) said.
Bye-elections were also held for two seats in taluka panchayats and 24 seats in municipalities. As per the results available till 1 pm, the BJP has so far bagged 2,085 seats, while the Congress has won 602 seats across these local bodies, the SEC said.
New entrant AAP has won 15 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party 5, while Independents have won 42 seats, it said.
In municipalities, the BJP has so far won 803 seats and the Congress-159. In district panchayats, the BJP has till now bagged 246 seats and the Congress-55.
In taluka panchayats, the BJP has so far emerged victorious in 1,036 seats and the Congress in 388 seats. More than 58,000 poll and security personnel are involved in the counting being conducted at 542 centres in Gujarat, the SEC said.
Another round of disappointing results has badly hit the Gujarat Congress, which had in 2017 delivered a strong performance in State elections. Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda and the leader of the Congress legislature party, Paresh Dhanani, resigned today long before all the results were declared.
Last week, the BJP swept polls across six key municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar, winning 483 of 576 seats. The AAP registered its presence in Surat by winning 27 seats at the cost of the Congress, which failed to win any in that town.
Arvind Kejriwal, reveling in AAP’s performance, indicated that he was preparing his party for the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections. He said the rivalry was now between the BJP and the AAP, with the Congress nowhere in the reckoning.
On his victory trip to Surat on Thursday, Kejriwal said AAP would seek votes from the people of the State in the next Assembly polls based on the performance of the party’s 27 newly-elected corporators.
Reacting to AAP’s political forays in Gujarat, BJP’s State chief CR Patil jibed that Kejriwal was holding a roadshow to celebrate the large number of AAP candidates who had lost their election deposits - forfeited when a candidate fails to get one-sixth of the total valid votes.
AAP and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM also contested in the Gujarat local body polls, apart from traditional rivals BJP and Congress. The AIMIM fielded candidates in minority-dominated seats of Modasa and Bharuch municipalities. It also contested in the Godhra municipality.