After a resounding victory in the six municipal corporation elections of Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar, BJP takes an early lead in the elections of 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats on Tuesday as counting began.
Aam Aadmi Party candidates have won Bhader taluka panchayat of Amreli district and Berja taluka panchayat of Jamnagar district, the party tweeted.
The elections to these local bodies were held on Sunday. Repolling at a booth at Ghodiya village in Jhalod taluka of Dahod district was held on Monday after polling on Sunday stopped following a booth capturing incident. Police arrested 17 people in Vadodara in connection with the interest.
{{/usCountry}}The elections to these local bodies were held on Sunday. Repolling at a booth at Ghodiya village in Jhalod taluka of Dahod district was held on Monday after polling on Sunday stopped following a booth capturing incident. Police arrested 17 people in Vadodara in connection with the interest.
{{/usCountry}}Follow live updates of Gujarat civic election counting
Out of total 8,474 seats in all these local bodies combines, elections were held for 8,235 seats as in 237 seats, candidates were elected unopposed. For these 8,235 seats, the BJP fielded 8,161 candidates, Congress 7,778 and Aam Aadmi Party 2,090, according to State Election Commission data.
The ruling BJP is ahead in the early count and is looking for a glorious victory. But what makes the results significant is the performance of other parties, as AAP made its mark in Surat municipal election by winning 27 seats in its debut. BJP retained power in Surat Municipal Corporation by winning 93 seats, while the Congress failed to win a single seat.
AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal led a roadshow in Surat thanking voters for trusting AAP candidates. He also set AAP's new target of joining the fray in the state assembly elections in 2022. "What they can not do in 25 years, we did in five years. Just give us five years in Gujarat and you will forget the 25 years' rule of the BJP," Kejriwal said.
For the first time, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad- ul-Muslimeen has fielded candidates in minority-dominated seats in Godhra, Modasa and Bharuch municipalities, with party chief Asaduddin Owaisi holding public gatherings in Modasa and Godhra before the elections.