Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Ahmedabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday swept the Gujarat municipal elections, showing its grip in the state it has been ruling for over three decades. The opposition Congress, which contested the polls for the first time on party symbol, once again was decimated.
Out of 68 municipal bodies for which polls were held, the BJP won 59 comfortably, while the party claimed to be forming ruling bodies in six other municipalities with the support of independent candidates.
For the BJP, the biggest upset was witnessed in Salaya municipality in Devbhumi Dwarka where the party failed measurably. Similarly, in Porbandar's Kutiyana and Ranavav municipalities, BJP was outsmarted by Samajwadi Party and local MLA Kandhal Jadeja.
State BJP president and Union minister C R Patil told reporters after the results that the party missed the record of winning 68 out of 68 municipalities as two of them were won by the SP and one by Congress.
Later in the evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the party workers for "excellent result" in a post on X, where he stated, "The bond between Gujarat and BJP is unbreakable...and, it is getting stronger day by day! I thank the people of Gujarat for supporting the BJP in the recently held local body election. I am humbled that the people of Gujarat have repeatedly expressed faith in our efforts. This victory is yet another victory of the politics of development which gives us more energy to serve the people..."
Meanwhile, a Congress leader said that their performance could have been better had the party chosen not to contest on party symbol.
The poll results are considered to be significant for the fact that it was held after a gap of two years. It was also the first time that 27 per cent of the seats had been reserved for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) from the previous 10 per cent.