A day after its thumping victory in the Maharashtra civic polls, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered yet another success in bypolls of local bodies in neighbouring Gujarat on Tuesday.
Of the 126 seats that went to polls, the BJP contested 125 and won 109. Before elections, the BJP had 64 of these seats. In contrast, the Congress that had 52 seats earlier has suffered a loss and bagged only 17 of the 126 seats it contested. As a result of the party’s victory in most of the seats, the BJP would control two more municipalities and one Taluka Panchayat in the State.
The victory in the bypolls came as a morale booster for the saffron party amid the Opposition’s hue and cry
over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs 500
and Rs 1,000.
Reacting to the results, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the results indicated that the steps initiated by the Prime Minister had the support of the people. “Both, the surgical strike after Uri and demonetisation have worked,” he said.
The win saw State party leadership and workers gather at the party headquarters Kamalam in Gandhinagar to celebrate and seemed to have enthused even Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has been facing a lot of flak post his demonetisation announcement.
“I salute the people of Gujarat for their continued trust in the BJP. The BJP’s great win in the local polls shows people’s strong faith in development politics,” Modi tweeted on the victory.
As per the results announced on Tuesday, BJP won 41 of 44 seats in Vapi (Valsad district), 27 of 28 seats in Kanakpur-Kansad (Surat) municipalities. The situation was similar in Gondal (Saurashtra), with the BJP winning 18 of the 22 Taluka Panchayat seats and bagging five of the seven district Panchayats here.
In fact, Gondal Taluka Panchayat was governed by the Congress with 12 seats earlier but as it could not get the budget passed thrice, new polls were held and people have now handed over the reins to the BJP. Out of 15 Taluka Panchayat by-elections, the BJP won five, while the Congress won four. Elections on other seats were postponed due to technical reasons.
The elections were necessitated in the municipalities as their terms ended, while Gondal civic body was dissolved last year after a tie between the Congress and the BJP. Gujarat Congress’s spokesman Manish Doshi said that his party accepts the result humbly and the Congress would continue to raise issues concerning the people, including the post-demonetisation effects.