News Analysis India

Tag: Gujarat local body elections

  • Congress swept out by BJP in Gujarat local body polls

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: A listless Congress found itself whipped by the electorate in Gujarat, as results of the local body polls came in on Tuesday.

    While there was no surprise in the BJP sweeping the municipal corporation elections, the Congress was forced to cede a part of its opposition space to Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and to a lesser extent to Asaduddin Owasi’s Majlis- e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen.

    Of the six municipal corporations that went to polls, the Congress drew a blank in Surat and trailed way behind the BJP in the other five.

    ALSO READ: Gujarat municipal election results show beleaguered Congress yet to arrest poll slide

    In contrast, the AAP won 27 seats in Surat while the BJP got 93 of the 120 that were up for grabs. In the Ahmadabad Municipal Corporation, out of 192 seats, the BJP was way ahead of the Congress, while MIM opened account with 7 seats.

    In the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation, the BJP won 50 while Congress got 11 and the BSP 3. In Bhavnagar, Vadodara and Rajkot municipal corporations, the Congress could not even reach double figures, winning 8, 7 and 4 respectively, as against the BJP’s 44, 69 and 68.

    ALSO READ: Elated with Gujarat debut, Aam Aadmi Party plans roadshow in Surat

    The Congress has been out of power in the Gujarat for 25 years. In the 2017 state polls under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, it gave the BJP a scare, scoring 87 as against the BJP’s 96 in a 182-member Assembly.

    Subsequent defections weakened the party and reduced it to 61. The Gujarat blow comes a day after the Congress lost power in Puducherry.

    According to an analyst, consecutive Congress losses in all major elections has forced people to look for an alternative.

    ALSO READ: AIMIM wins seven seats in Ahmedabad civic body on Gujarat poll debut

    “In 2017, people of Gujarat wanted to vote out BJP, but the Congress failed to capitalise on it. Continuingnfighting in its Gujarat unit, too, is a factor in the poor performance,” he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the verdict.

    “Thank you Gujarat! Results… clearly show the unwavering faith people have towards politics of development and good governance,” he tweeted.

  • Gujarat municipal election results show beleaguered Congress yet to arrest poll slide

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Amidst internal turmoil and leadership issues, the Congress remains beset with the challenge of electoral slide as seen in Gujarat where the party gave tough fight to the BJP in 2017 Assembly elections. The infighting in the Gujarat Congress has eroded its electoral base with several MLAs crossing over to the BJP since 2017.

    The party even lost the hard fought Rajya Sabha seat of Ahmed Patel, who passed away last year, to the BJP. Many leaders questioned the ticket distribution and how various factions ensured that their aides bagged the seats over deserving candidates.

    ALSO READ: Elated with Gujarat debut, Aam Aadmi Party plans roadshow in Surat

    Calling it a worrying trend, a senior leader said at national level, the high command is struggling to firefight rebellion by some seniors seeking organisational elections and differences over leadership issues.

    All eyes will now be on the elections in Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.  The setback in Gujarat comes a day after the party’s government fell in Puducherry. 

    ALSO READ: Gujarat civic polls – PM Modi says results show people’s faith in politics of development

    In the past few months, the party won local body polls in Rajasthan and Punjab while it was pushed to fourth position behind the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the BJP and the AIMIM in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls in December last year.

    The underperformance by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), which is looking to form the government in Kerala, in the recently held local body elections is already worrying the state unit. 

    ALSO READ: AIMIM wins seven seats in Ahmedabad civic body on Gujarat poll debut

    In November last year, the Congress turned out to be weak link for the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. In 2020, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh fell following rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scindia and party MLAs. It failed to perform better in the bypolls.       

    In Rajasthan, the Ashok Gehlot government was saved at the eleventh hour after the CM took control following a botched move by his deputy Sachin Pilot to topple the government on the lines of Madhya Pradesh. The party has failed to settle things between the two leaders.   

  • Gujarat: AAP to contest all seats in local polls, releases first list

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Aiming to expand its footprints nationally, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday announced to contest all seats in the upcoming local bodies polls in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Releasing the party’s first list of 504 candidates in Ahmadabad, Delhi MLA and AAP’s national spokesperson Atishi said the residents of Gujarat were looking for an alternative as the BJP had been in power in the state for many years.

    Elections to the local bodies — municipalities, municipal corporations, district and taluka panchayats — in Gujarat are likely to be held in February. “The AAP will contest on all seats in the local bodies’ polls in the state for the first time. With this, the party will enter the electoral politics of Gujarat as a strong alternative to the BJP. AAP will work to remove the BJP from power,” said Atishi.

    “Not just the local bodies’ polls, but AAP will also contest the Vidhan Sabha elections as well as other polls,” she added. The party held a road show in Ahmedabad after releasing the list of candidates. With the AAP spreading its organisational reach, the party hopes to counter ‘Gujarat Model’ with ‘Kejriwal Model’ of governance.

    Recently, it selected a young face, Gopal Italia, as president of its Gujarat unit to lead the campaign in the upcoming civic polls. Gulab Singh, party MLA from Matiala in Delhi, who is party co-incharge in the state, had earlier inaugurated the ‘AAP Mohalla Clinics’ in Ahmedabad.