BJP set to sweep Gujarat civic polls; PM Modi tweets thank you, Amit Shah calls it 'one of the best results'
Chief minister Vijay Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel had earlier expressed gratitude to the voters and BJP workers for Gujarat municipal election results. The counting is being held in six municipal corporations in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday appeared on course to retain power in six municipal corporations in Gujarat, winning 334 of the 576 seats where results were declared till 5 pm.
Gujarat municipal election: Track live updates
Polling for Ahmedabad and five other civic corporations was held on February 21. The counting of votes began on Tuesday morning and is still underway.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the results and said it is always an honour to serve Gujarat.
"Thank you Gujarat! Results of municipal elections across the state clearly show the unwavering faith people have towards politics of development and good governance. Grateful to the people of the state for trusting BJP yet again. Always an honour to serve Gujarat," he tweeted.
Union home minister Amit Shah called the results as one of the best in Gujarat.
"BJP has won around 85 percent of the seats it contested. Congress has suffered badly in this election. Congress won only 44 seats across Gujarat, while BJP bagged 44 seats in Bhavnagar corporation alone," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Chief minister Vijay Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel had earlier expressed gratitude to the voters and BJP workers for the results.
"The grand victory of the BJP in these elections is the victory of the people of Gujarat. This is a grand victory of the politics of development of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Rupani said.
In a series of tweets, Rupani had said, “I thank voters of all the six metros. I thank all the BJP workers who have worked hard in this election. I assure the people of Gujarat that the BJP will not let the trust placed in the BJP go to waste. The government will not spare any effort for the development of 6 Municipal Corporations in the coming days.”
“By handing over the responsibility of city development to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the corporation for years, the people of Gujarat have made it a subject for the political analysts to study that the term anti-incumbency does not apply to Gujarat,” he had said in his other tweets.
While Congress has won 36 of the declared seats so far, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a new entrant in these elections, could win 12 seats. The AAP had fielded 470 candidates across the six corporations.
The counting of votes is being held for 192 seats across 48 wards in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, for 120 seats across 30 wards in the Surat Municipal Corporation, 76 seats across 19 wards of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, for 72 seats across 18 wards in the Rajkot Municipal Corporation, 52 seats across 13 wards in the Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation and 64 seats across 16 wards in the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation.
