The Bharatiya Janata Party made big leads in Gujarat on Tuesday as counting of votes for 575 seats in six municipal corporations – Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar – was under way, reported NDTV. The election to the civic bodies is a test for the BJP to retain power in all six.
The party was ahead in 286 seats, while the Congress was leading in 42, according to the latest trends, reported the news channel. In 2015, the BJP won 391 of these seats and the Congress ended up securing 174.
The saffron party was ahead in 82 seats in Ahmedabad, while the Congress was leading in 16. All the 24 seats for which the results have been declared so far, were won by the BJP, according to The Times of India.
In Bhavnagar, the saffron party was leading in 20 seats and the Congress was ahead in seven. In Surat, the saffron party widened the gap with the Opposition, with gains in 56 seats to the Congress’ eight. The Aam Aadmi Party, which is contesting for the first time, won eight seats in Surat.
In Vadodara, the BJP gained a lead in 27 seats, while the Congress was able to advance in eight seats. In Dariyapur, a Congress bastion in eastern Ahmedabad, the party has retained all four seats, according to The Indian Express.
However, the party suffered a setback in Rajkot, where the BJP was leading in 48, while the Congress was yet to win any seats. Ashok Dangar, president of Rajkot city unit of the Congress, lost election from Ward No 17 of Rajkot Municipal Corporation. Atul Rajani, the senior most Congress corporator in RMC, was also trailing to his BJP rivals in Ward No.2, according to The Indian Express.
This year, the BJP has won uncontested in Naranpura ward of Ahmedabad after the Congress withdrew its candidate. The Bahujan Samaj Party, meanwhile, managed to open its account in Jamnagar, where the BJP again was ahead in 23 seats. The Congress was leading in six, according to NDTV.
A total of about 2,276 candidates contested in the local body polls. Apart from this, nine candidates were in the fray for the bye-elections to two seats in the Junagadh Municipal Corporation. There are 577 candidates of the BJP, and the Congress has fielded 566. As many as 470 politicians from the AAP, 91 from the Nationalist Congress Party, 353 from other parties, and 228 Independents fought in the election.
The BJP’s campaign had primarily put focus on the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, and the Statue of Unity. The Congress, meanwhile, had promised a “GujRight” card that would provide access to public amenities to all.