BJP sweeps Gujarat local bodies elections
By IANSSaturday, October 23, 2010
GANDHINAGAR - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the local bodies elections bagging 21 of the 24 district panchayats, 162 of the 208 taluka panchayats and 41 of the 53 municipalities in Gujarat Saturday.
On Oct 12, the BJP retained the municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar.
As the Congress slipped to perhaps its worst ever showing, state party president Siddhartha Patel sent his resignation to party chief Sonia Gandhi, accepting moral responsibility for the dismal results.
The Gujarat Congress Legislature Party leader Shaktisinh Gohil also sent in his resignation to Gandhi, accepting joint responsibility for the party’s poor performance.
In a statement released Saturday evening, Patel said that he sent his resignation accepting moral responsibility for the party’s showing in the just concluded civic and panchayat elections.
“The atmosphere was favourable for the party and the workers also put in a lot of hard work but the results have been difficult to digest,” he stated.
The Congress even lost the Dabhoi municipality in Vadodara district which is party of Patel’s assembly constituency.
The local bodies election results declared Saturday were worst than even the 2005 elections when the Congress claimed six of the 24 district panchayats.
The party has almost been wiped out in Kutch, Saurashtra and central Gujarat regions by the BJP.
In the Broach district panchayat six independents are likely to determine which party will rule it. The BJP won 14 and the Congress won 11 seats in the 31-member panchayat.
In the elections to the 208 of the 225 taluka panchayats in the state, the Congress, which had 81 of the taluka panchayats under its control before the polls, ended up woth only 38. The BJP’s strength went up from 127 to 162.
Two taluka panchayats went to the Janata Dal-United.
The BJP also bagged 41 of the 53 municipalities while the Congress could capture only three.
Five municipalities were won by other parties and the results of two municipalities are yet to be declared. In Porbandar and Botad municipalities, the BJP and the Congress are tied with 21 seats each.
