BJP wins 33 out of 38 seats in Gujarat local body by-polls

Giving a jolt to Congress, the Gujarat unit of the BJP won 33 out of 38 seats in by-elections of various local bodies of the state, including two seats of Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) and 31 seats of various municipalities in the state.
Counting of votes and results of by-polls held in these 38 seats were declared today by the Gujarat State Election Commission.
Apart from wining two RMC seats, BJP candidates won 31 seats out of a total 36 seats in elections to 11 municipal bodies on April 19, stated a release issued here today by the Election Commission.

The statement of results stated that the Congress secured four seats while one independent candidate also won in the by-polls.
However, the BJP claimed that the independent candidate of Veraval Nagarpalika had their support due to which the BJP's tally should be put at 34.
After these results, the BJP further strengthened its presence in these municipalities.

"Before this election, BJP has six seats in these 11 municipalities. Now, it has reached 32. On the other hand, the Congress has been wiped out. The Congress used to have 27 seats before this election, which has now came down to four, since it failed to retain its seats," Gujarat BJP's media convenor Harshad Patel said.

Meanwhile, Gujarat BJP president R C Faldu congratulated BJP candidates who won by issuing a press statement.
"These results showed that people have rejected the negative politics of the Congress and endorsed the development based politics of the BJP. As elections for various local bodies is approaching, this result has boosted our confidence," Faldu said.
After conceding defeat, the Congress remained defiant and stated that by-election results are not the right parameter to judge the mood of people.
"Results of by-election are always in the favour of the ruling party, since they make use of government machinery and muscle power. We are not at all moved by this result. We are confident that we will be victorious in the forthcoming local body elections in the state," Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said.