<p>Ahmedabad: The local body elections in Gujarat took an interesting turn on Tuesday, with the opposition Congress sending its candidates to “secret locations” to avoid alleged attempts by the BJP to influence them into withdrawing their nominations.</p><p>Such withdrawals usually make BJP candidates win elections unopposed. So far, the ruling party's candidates are said to have won over 300 seats "uncontested" out of a total of 9,992 seats across 393 local bodies.</p><p>The last day of filing nominations was Saturday while the deadline for withdrawal of nomination is on Wednesday. Fearing more withdrawals, a day before the last of withdrawing nominations, the Congress sent its candidates, majority of them contesting elections for the first time, to resorts or other unknown places for the next 24 hours.</p>.Gujarat Police launch AI-based tool to aid narcotics investigation.<p>Gujarat is set to go to polls for 15 civic bodies, 84 municipality, 34 district panchayats, and 260 taluka panchayats. Voting will be held on April 26 and results will be announced on April 28. This is a crucial election as it will set the tone for next year's Assembly polls.</p><p>The Congress sent its candidates to unknown locations in Surat, Navsari, Kheda, Kalol, Rajkot, among other places after the party received information that the candidates had been contacted allegedly by people claiming to be from the ruling party.</p><p>"Election officials seems to have worn the BJP scarf. The SOG (special operation group) and LCB (local crime branch) go to the homes and offices of Congress candidates to intimidate and threaten them. Complaints have been filed in Vasada, Kalol, and Surat against such officials by name. But, no action is being taken. There are attempts to buy our candidates for Rs25 lakh-Rs 30 lakh, and there is sufficient evidence to verify this," alleged state Congress president Amit Chavda.</p><p>He also alleged "gross illegality" in the election process. He alleged that the election officials were rejecting forms of Congress candidates illegally while genuine objections raised by the his party candidates were not entertained. </p><p>Meanwhile, the BJP hit back at the Congress, accusing it of engaging in “resort politics” instead of staying among the people. "The party is unable to find candidates. They have got only 60% candidates and trying to hide them as they don't have faith in their candidates," claimed Gujarat BJP's chief spokesperson Anil Patel.</p>
<p>Ahmedabad: The local body elections in Gujarat took an interesting turn on Tuesday, with the opposition Congress sending its candidates to “secret locations” to avoid alleged attempts by the BJP to influence them into withdrawing their nominations.</p><p>Such withdrawals usually make BJP candidates win elections unopposed. So far, the ruling party's candidates are said to have won over 300 seats "uncontested" out of a total of 9,992 seats across 393 local bodies.</p><p>The last day of filing nominations was Saturday while the deadline for withdrawal of nomination is on Wednesday. Fearing more withdrawals, a day before the last of withdrawing nominations, the Congress sent its candidates, majority of them contesting elections for the first time, to resorts or other unknown places for the next 24 hours.</p>.Gujarat Police launch AI-based tool to aid narcotics investigation.<p>Gujarat is set to go to polls for 15 civic bodies, 84 municipality, 34 district panchayats, and 260 taluka panchayats. Voting will be held on April 26 and results will be announced on April 28. This is a crucial election as it will set the tone for next year's Assembly polls.</p><p>The Congress sent its candidates to unknown locations in Surat, Navsari, Kheda, Kalol, Rajkot, among other places after the party received information that the candidates had been contacted allegedly by people claiming to be from the ruling party.</p><p>"Election officials seems to have worn the BJP scarf. The SOG (special operation group) and LCB (local crime branch) go to the homes and offices of Congress candidates to intimidate and threaten them. Complaints have been filed in Vasada, Kalol, and Surat against such officials by name. But, no action is being taken. There are attempts to buy our candidates for Rs25 lakh-Rs 30 lakh, and there is sufficient evidence to verify this," alleged state Congress president Amit Chavda.</p><p>He also alleged "gross illegality" in the election process. He alleged that the election officials were rejecting forms of Congress candidates illegally while genuine objections raised by the his party candidates were not entertained. </p><p>Meanwhile, the BJP hit back at the Congress, accusing it of engaging in “resort politics” instead of staying among the people. "The party is unable to find candidates. They have got only 60% candidates and trying to hide them as they don't have faith in their candidates," claimed Gujarat BJP's chief spokesperson Anil Patel.</p>