The BJP swept the urban local bodies of Gujarat winning all the six municipal corporations in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar for which the results were announced on Tuesday.
The ruling party won 69 out of 76 seats in Vadodara, 68 out of 72 in Rajkot, 50 out of 64 in Jamnagar and 44 out of 52 seats in Bhavnagar in its largest victory in the civic bodies of the state. In Surat, the parties won 93 out of 120 seats while counting for Ahmedabad are underway but the saffron party is likely to cross 160 out of total 192 seats in the city.
Though the BJP was expected to win all the six municipal corporations, which are under its control for almost two decades, the party’s victory margin winning more than 80% of the total seats came as surprise as it completely routed the opposition Congress in the six main cities of the state.
However, the big surprise is spectacular entry of Aam Admi Party (AAP) in its maiden contest in Surat Municipal Corporation where party became the main opposition party in the civic body winning 27 out of 120 seats while the Congress has drawn blank for the first time in Surat.
Similarly, AIMIM has won seven seats in Ahmedabad in Jamalpur and maktampura wards, both Congerss bastions for years due to domination of the minority community.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and the State BJP chief CR Paatil thanked the people of Gujarat for once again reposing their faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
“It’s a victory for BJP’s people centric governance and people of Gujarat’s faith in BJP,” said Chief Minister Rupani in his home town Rajkot.
Meanwhile, following its dismal performance, Surat city Congress President Babu Rayka and Rajkot city Congress chief Ashok Dangar have offered to resign taking the responsibility for the party’s disastrous performance in the civic polls.
In the second phase of local polls, voting will be held for 31 district panchayats, 81 municipalities and 231 taluka panchayats on February 27 while results will be announced on March 2.