Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday notched up a sweeping victory across all 15 municipal corporations. In the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, the saffron party crossed the 50% mark in every corporation.Polling for the civic elections was held on Sunday, covering 15 municipal corporations, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats, and 260 taluka panchayats.Seen as one of the largest electoral exercises ahead of next year’s Assembly elections, the polls spanned nearly 9,200 seats and involved over 4.18 crore eligible voters.According to state election commission (SEC) data, voter turnout stood at 55.1% in municipal corporations, 65.53% in municipalities, 66.64% in district panchayats, and 67.26% in taluka panchayats.Among the municipal corporations, the newly formed Gandhidham in Kutch district recorded the lowest turnout at 46.03%, while Vapi in Valsad district saw the highest at 72.29%. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation registered a turnout of 51.81%.Polling was conducted for the first time in nine newly created municipal corporations, including Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Porbandar, and Surendranagar.The elections were held under revised norms for Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations, which necessitated extensive delimitation and ward restructuring across several districts.The BJP, Congress, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged as the principal contenders, while the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) also fielded candidates in multiple constituencies.
