Perceived as the semi-final ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls to be held in 2017, Gujarat voters did some balancing act in the keenly-contested civic body elections by giving contradictory verdicts in urban and rural areas.
The ruling BJP retained all six municipal corporations and won 42 out of 56 municipalities. On the other hand, the Congress snatched 22 out of 31 district panchayats from the BJP. In the 230 taluka panchayats with 4,778 seats, the Congress bagged 2,108 seats against the BJP’s 1,413. The BJP suffered major losses at the hands of the Congress in rural areas.
The BJP had bagged 191 out of 230 taluka panchayats and 30 out of 31 district panchayats in the last elections.