In district panchayats and taluka panchayats, the ruling BJP posted gains in the Gujrat muncipal election, leading in most of the 81 municipalities that voted on Sunday and creating a wide gap with its closest competitor, the Congress. The party hopes to continue its good run in local body polls held over the last few weeks in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, ahead of elections due next year.
The BJP was ahead in 67 of 81 municipalities as votes were counted, with the Congress gaining in two and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) opening its account with one seat.
Of 31 district panchayats, the BJP is leading in 30 and others are yet to register. The BJP is leading in 158 of 231 taluka panchayats, with the Congress ahead in seven.
AAP is ahead in some district panchayat seats in Bhavnagar and Amreli.
Of a total of 8,474 seats involved, elections were held on 8,235 seats while the rest were unopposed.
Last week, the BJP swept polls across the municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar, winning 483 of 576 seats. AAP registered its presence in Surat by winning 27 seats at the cost of the Congress, which failed to win any in that town.
Arvind Kejriwal, reveling in AAP's performance, indicated that he was prepping his party for the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections.
AAP and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM also contested in the Gujarat local body polls, apart from traditional rivals BJP and Congress. The AIMIM fielded candidates in minority-dominated seats of Modasa and Bharuch municipalities. It also contested in the Godhra municipality.
