25 years on, BJP's strong hold in Gujarat continues!

Gandhinagar, Feb 24: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) put up a spectacular performance in the Gujarat municipal corporation elections. It is set to retain power in all six municipal corporations of Gujarat - Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, and Jamnagar - improving its numbers over 2016 polls and nearly decimating the Congress.

 

 

The performance in states indicated more powerful as BJP has been in power in the state for the last 25 years. Besides, BJP vastly improved its performance by winning 483 out of the total 576 seats across the 6 civic bodies as compared to the previous election where it bagged 389 seats. On the other hand, Congress was reduced to a paltry 55 seats from the 176 wins they had secured last time. This means Congress tally went down by 121 seats compared to the previous polls whereas BJP added 100 more to its kitty.

 

 

Senior BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the party's victory and said that the unwavering support of people from all sections was indeed touching. He termed the victory as "very special" and said it is noteworthy for a party that has been serving in a state for over two decades to record such a phenomenal win. He said the results of municipal elections clearly show the unwavering faith people have in politics of development and good governance.

 

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and deputy chief minister Nitin Patel expressed gratitude to the voters and BJP workers for the results. "The grand victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections of six municipal corporations is the victory of the people of Gujarat.

 

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"Many thanks and congratulations to all the winning candidates, BJP office-bearers, workers and the voters of Gujarat for the glorious victory of Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections," tweeted Nitin Patel.

 

 

 

 

BJP secured 68 seats in Rajkot, which is a 30 seat jump in its numbers compared to the 2016 polls. BJP won 12 more seats in Vadodara and Jamnagar and 14 more in Surat. It won 10 more seats in Bhavnagar and 22 more in Ahmedabad. BJP won 159 seats in Ahemdabad.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) put up a fight in Surat where it won 27 seats in its first outing. Other parties including All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) also remained unsuccessful in their attempts to corner the BJP. The BJP secured 93 out of the 120 seats in Surat, while the AAP secured 27. Congress and other parties did not win any seats.

In Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar, the BJP secured 69, 68, 44, and 50 seats respectively. The Congress, secured 7 seats in Vadodara, four in Rajkot, eight in Bhavnagar and 11 in Jamnagar. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) secured three seats in Jamnagar. BJP won 159 seats in Ahmedabad with the Congress winning 25.