BJP leads in most areas in Gujarat local body polls

Gandhinagar, March 2, 2021

As counting of the votes cast in Gujarat's local body polls was underway on Tuesday, early trends showed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in most of the areas.

In the first two hours of counting, results of five out of the 81 municipalities arrived, where four have been captured by the BJP and one has gone to the Congress.

Out of the 231 tehsil panchayats, results of 15 have been obtained -- 13 to the BJP and two to Congress.

Meanwhile, in the Junagadh tehsil panchayat, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has opened its account.

In Kodinar tehsil of Gir-Somnath district, a BJP candidate won his seat by a margin of one vote over his rival.

According to the State Election Commission (SEC), around 64 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the elections to 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats which were held in a largely peaceful manner on Sunday.

There was 58.82 percent voter turnout across 81 municipalities, 65.80 per cent in 31 district panchayats, and 66.60 per cent in 231 taluka Panchayats.

The average voting percentage across all these local bodies together was around 63.74 per cent.

Voting for 8,473 seats, comprising 2,720 in 680 wards in 81 municipalities, 980 in 31 district panchayats and 4,773 in 231 taluka panchayats took place across 36,008 booths.

Out of these, 237 seats remain unopposed, and no form was filled for two seats in taluka panchayat.

The elections were held on a total 8,235 seats, out of which, the BJP had fielded 8,161 candidates, Congress 7,778, AAP 2,090, among others.

IANS