Gujarat panchayat polls: Both BJP and Congress claim victory

On a day results of the elections held for 1127 village panchayats in Gujarat were declared, the ruling BJP and opposition Congress have claimed victory for their respective parties.
Out of the total 1,425 village panchayats where elections were due, around 295 has been declared 'Samras' as villagers chose their sarpanchs unanimously ahead of the polls, the Gujarat State Election Commission said in a release.
Results for the elections, held for 1,127 village panchayats on February 4 for the post of sarpanchs and panchayat members, were declared today.
Village Panchayat polls are not fought on party symbols and candidates need to fight in their personal capacity.

Each voter is required to cast two votes---one to elect sarpanch and another for electing the panchayat member for his ward.
After the results came out, the state BJP claimed that the saffron party has emerged victorious on 75 to 80 per cent of gram panchayats.

"Thanks to the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel, the BJP has registered its victory on 75 to 80 per cent panchayats. People have put their trust in the," said Gujarat BJP unit president Jitu Vaghani.
However, the Congress said that over 70 per cent elected sarpanchs as well as panchayat members are associated with the opposition party.

The Congress claimed that the rural voter has put his trust in the party as the BJP government has "failed" to address the core issues such as irrigation, employment and Minimum Support Price (MSP) affecting rural population.
"Over 70 per cent elected sarpanchs and (Panchayat) members are associated with our party. People have put trust in us because the BJP government is anti-farmer and anti-rural. This government has failed to resolve the problems being faced by rural population. We will work to improve this scenario" said Gujarat Congress spokesperson, Manish Doshi.