Gujarat Civic polls results 2021 LIVE: BJP sweeps election; AAP wins 27 seats in Surat

Speaking to news agency ANI, Union Home Minister Amit Shah contended that the BJP's victory in the Municipal Corporation polls indicated that Gujarat is a fortress for the JP Nadda-led party. Highlighting that BJP has won almost 85% of the seats, he again congratulated Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani and Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Patel. He called upon Congress to introspect on the poll results. 

Subsequently, Rupani, Patel and Gujarat BJP chief CR Paatil called on Shah at his residence.

BJP managed to bag 69 out of 76 seats in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. On the other hand, Congress could bag only 7 seats. 

Seats won by political parties until now:

BJP- 455

Congress- 44

AAP- 23

BSP- 3

Independent- 1

Lauding his party's performance, BJP president JP Nadda remarked, "BJP has got an overwhelming majority in the local body elections held in all the six metropolitan municipalities of Gujarat. I thank the voters of all the six metropolitan municipalities, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, state president CR Paatil and party workers for this unprecedented victory." 

Congratulating BJP on sweeping 6 Municipal Corporations in Gujarat, Union Home Minister Amit Shah dubbed this as a vote of confidence in development and progress. He stated that the Central and state governments are continuously working for the welfare of the poor, backward and disadvantaged as well as for the global development of the state under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Moreover, he thanked Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Patel and state BJP chief CR Paatil for this glorious victory. 

Buoyed by the stupendous performance of AAP in Surat, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is likely to visit the city on February 6 and take part in a roadshow. 

Vadodara: BJP- 69, Congress- 7

Ahmedabad: BJP- 161, Congress- 14, Others- 8

Addressing the media, AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj stated that his party is very happy with the result in Gujarat. He said, "We did not expect this result. It was hard for us to believe that groud swell will convert with votes. The votes we got in Surat in very encouraging for us." While BJP has won 93 seats in Surat, Congress has been routed.  

As per the final result, BJP won 44 out of the 52 seats of the Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation. On the other hand, only 8 Congress' candidates could win. 

Rajkot (72 seats): BJP- 68, Congress- 4

Jamnagar (64 seats): BJP- 50, Congress- 11, Others- 3

Seats won by political parties until now:

BJP- 335

Congress- 36

AAP- 12

BSP- 3

Independent- 1

Rajkot: BJP- 51, Cong- 4, Others- 0

Ahmedabad: BJP- 123, Cong-21, Others- 0

Bhavnagar: BJP- 44, Cong- 8, Others- 0

Jamnagar: BJP- 50, Cong- 11, Others-3

Vadodara: BJP- 53, Cong- 7

Surat: BJP- 84, AAP- 23, Cong- 0, AIMIM- 0

Expressing happiness on BJP's victory in 6 Municipal Corporations, Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani contended that this is the victory of the people of the state. Terming it as a win for the "politics of development", he also profusely thanked the voters and all BJP workers who worked hard in this election. Moreover, he assured people that the state government will not spare any effort for the development of 6 Municipal Corporations in the coming days.

Writing on Twitter, Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Patel remarked, "Many thanks and congratulations to all the winning candidates, all BJP office bearers, activists and all the voters of Gujarat for the glorious victory of Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections of 6 Municipal Corporations of Local Self Government". 

Counting is underway for elections to six municipal corporations in Gujarat and the BJP is leading after winning 40 seats so far out of the total 576, the State Election Commission (SEC) said on Tuesday.

The Congress has so far won nine seats, it said. Polling for the 576 seats in 144 wards across six civic bodies - Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar - was held on Sunday.

The BJP ruled all these civic bodies for the last several terms. The counting of votes began at 9 am on Tuesday.

After three hours of counting, the SEC said the BJP has till now emerged victorious in 40 seats, including five in Ahmedabad, eight in Rajkot, four in Surat, nine in Vadodara, and seven each in Jamnagar and Bhavnagar.

The Congress has so far won seven seats in Vadodara and one each in Bhavnagar and Jamnagar. An average 46.1% voter turnout was recorded in the elections to the six civic bodies on Sunday.

The municipal corporation elections are being seen as a test for Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, as it may set the tone for the state Assembly polls due next year.

(PTI)
 

• BJP leading in 65 seats, Congress 10 seats and others 4 seats in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
• AAP is not leading in any seat in Surat. Sources say that that is where they were expecting the most support. 

Leading trends. Break down of all 6 municipalities:

Ahmedabad: BJP- 65, Congress-10, Others-4 
Surat: BJP-46, Congress-10, Others-18 
Vadodara: BJP-15, Congress-10, Others-0 
Rajkot: BJP-22, Congress-4, Others-0
Jamnagar: BJP-12, Congress-5, Others-4 
Bhavanagar: BJP-12, Congress-26, Others-6

AIMIM leading in 3 seats.

• 1 in Ahmedabad.  
• 2 in Surat

Ahmedabad: BJP- 81, Congress-15, Others-2
Surat: BJP-50, Congress-10, Others-19
Vadodara: BJP-36, Congress-9, Others-0 
Rajkotl: BJP-48, Congress-9, Others-0
Jamnagar: BJP-23, Congress-4, Others-4 
Bhavanagar: BJP-30, Congress-8, Others-0

At 12 noon, officially declared results of 6-city Gujarat civic polls:

Party Position-

• BJP: 36
• Congress: 9
• Others: 0

BJP nominees Dineshchandra Anavadiya and Rambhai Mokariya were on Monday declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat as the opposition Congress did not field candidates for the two vacant seats, one of which was held by its veteran leader Ahmed Patel.

The two seats had fallen vacant following the demise of the sitting MPs belonging to the Congress and the BJP. One of the seats was held by veteran Congressman Ahmed Patel since 1993 till his death on November 25 last year due to complications related to COVID-19. The other seat fell vacant as BJP's Abhay Bharadwaj, a first time MP elected to the RS in 2019, too, died on December 1 due to the coronavirus infection.

Returning Officer C B Pandya declared Anavadiya and Mokariya as elected uncontested from the two seats on Monday, which was the last date of withdrawal of forms. Two dummy candidates of the BJP, Rajnikant Patel and Kirit Solanki, withdrew their nominations on Saturday.

With the bypoll to the two seats scheduled to be held separately, the Congress, with 65 MLAs in the 182-member Assembly, decided not to field any candidate due to negligible chances of winning against the BJP which has 111 legislators. Anavadiya, a long-time BJP leader from Banaskantha, had also served as director of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation between 2014-17, while Mokariya, owner of a courier firm, has been with the party for almost 40 years. 
 

Counting of votes polled in elections to six municipal corporations of Gujarat, including major cities of Ahmedabad and Vadodara, started at 9 am on Tuesday. All eyes will be on the performance of the BJP which is in power in these civic bodies.

Polling for 576 seats in 144 wards across six civic bodies - Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar - was held on Sunday (February 21). All these civic bodies are being currently ruled by the BJP.

"Designated staff would begin the counting of votes from 9 am on Tuesday at various counting centres in these six cities. People can watch live updates on our website," said MV Joshi, secretary, State Election Commission.

The State Election Commission (SEC) has said an average 46.08% turnout was registered during voting which was held between 7 am and 6 pm on Sunday.

Ahmedabad recorded the lowest turnout of 42.51%, while Jamnagar saw the highest turnout of 53.38%, followed by 50.72% in Rajkot, 49.46% in Bhavnagar, 47.84% in Vadodara and 47.14% in Surat.

Of the total 1.14 crore voters registered in these major cities of Gujarat, 52.83 lakh had cast their ballots, the SEC said in a release. Elections to 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats are scheduled on February 28.