Congress leadership is finished in Gujarat: CM Vijay Rupani after civic polls
While the BJP improved its tally from 389 seats that it won in 2015 to 489 seats, the Congress was reduced to 45 seats from its previously held 174 seats.
Days after big win in Gujarat civic body polls, chief minister Vijay Rupani on Friday took a swipe at the Congress party, which managed to secure only 45 seats across six municipal corporations in the state. The minister said the grand-old party’s leadership was finished.
“Congress leadership (in the state) is finished. Congress itself is finished. People do not consider them worthy of even being an Opposition, let alone being the one in power. People have rejected Congress completely,” Rupani told ANI.
Gujarat chief minister’s remark comes as his party registered a massive win across the municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Surat, Rajkot and Vadodara. While the BJP improved its tally from 389 seats that it won in 2015 to 489 seats, the Congress was reduced to 45 seats from its previously held 174 seats.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) opened its account in Surat with 27 seats where the BJP won 93 seats while the Congress’s tally was zero in the February 21 elections.
As AAP celebrated its mini success, Rupani had earlier said the party has emerged as a challenge for the main opposition Congress in the state. "AAP candidates have only won the seats which were with the Congress earlier. So the party has emerged as a major challenge for the Congress (and not for the BJP)," the chief minister said.
Expressing confidence in the BJP’s hold over the state, the chief minister said AAP won’t win any seats in future civic elections. "Apart from Surat, the AAP did not win a single seat in other cities. And none of its candidates will win in the coming local body polls. As in the cities, the BJP's winning streak will continue in rural areas," he told reporters.
On Tuesday, Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil, however, had said the AAP's entry into Gujarat was "very painful" and the BJP will try to find a way to "deal with" the new entrant.