Cong Decimated in Gujarat Local Body Polls, Poor Performance in Rural Areas, Strongholds

The results of Gujarat local body elections are out and BJP has managed to win a majority in 6 municipal corporations in the state. With this, BJP has also won elections in 31 district panchayats. Out of the 231 tehsil panchayat, the BJP has won in 196 while the Congress managed to win only in 33. Out of 81, BJP has recorded victories in 75 municipal corporations while the Congress won seats in 3 and other parties won seats in 3 corporations.

Congress has lost elections in seats where once it was stronghold. When BJP won the seats in the area of opposition leader Paresh Dhanani, he resigned from his post. Congress also lost seats in Anand, Sabarkhantha and Jamnagar district panchayat and this area were considered bastions of leaders like Amit Chavda, Bharatsingh, Ashwin Kotwal and Vikram Madam. Amit Chavada too has resigned from his post.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 42 seats while Owaisi’s party has won 7 out of 8 seats in Godhra.

In the local body elections, AAP has 42 seats while Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM managed to grab 7 seats out of the 8 it has fought in Godhra. In Modasa, Owaisi’s party won 9 seats and thus, the party has managed to win 16 seats. The parties have managed to record their victories in their debut elections while the Congress, it seems, has been banished from the state.

When compared with the result of the last elections held in 2015, one gets an idea of how things have changed in the state. BJP was considered a party which has its roots in the cities but this perception has changed now and the party has recorded its victory even in villages.

In the local body elections held in 2015, out of 972 district panchayat seats, the Congress had won 595 while BJP had won only 368 and others had won only 9 seats. In 2015, out of the 4715 seats of the tehsil panchayat, Congress had won 2555, BJP 2019 and other had won 141 seats. Out of 2675 seats of 81 municipal corporations, BJP had won 1197, Congress had won 673 and others had 205 seats. Four seats had gone to BSP in that election.

In 2015, BJP had faced problems due to the Patidar movement and this had directly benefited the Congress. A prominent figure in the Patidar movement, Hardik Patel had helped the Congress to win the election. After this, Hardik joined the Congress and he was made working president of the state Congress but this did not help the Congress much and has instead harmed it. Now in the coming days, it would be difficult for the Congress to make a comeback in the state.

The ongoing farmers’ agitation in Delhi which is continuing for the last 90 days, had no effect on the local body elections held in rural areas of Gujarat. Congress had expected that this agitation will affect the election outcomes but no such things happened.

With this performance in the local body elections in Gujarat, the state has shown that it is not bothered about problems such as inflation or unemployment.

BJP has staged its biggest win and Congress has been bruised badly while AAP and Owaisi’s party has made excellent debut in the state.