Campaign for election to six municipal corporations in Gujarat, being viewed as an acid test for the ruling BJP ahead of the state Assembly polls in 2017, came to an end today.
Voting for the six municipal corporations-- Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar-- will be held on November 22. All these civic bodies are currently being ruled by the BJP.
Even as Chief minister Anandiben Patel steered the BJP campaign, on Congress' behalf state unit chief Bharatsinh Solanki was at the helm. However, lack of enthusiasm about the local bodies poll among people made the overall campaign lacklustre and dull.
Nonetheless, statements made by some Patel community leaders, who have turned against the ruling BJP as the party has not accepted their demand of quota, added some flavour to the campaign. Traditionally, Patels were considered as staunch supporters of BJP.
For BJP, stakes are high in these elections, as it is an tough task for the saffron party to retain power in the all the municipal bodies. These elections are being viewed as a litmus test for Anandiben Patel, who had taken over as the state CM after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister.
Before the municipal polls, the state witnessed an agitation by the numerically-strong Patel community over reservation issue. The detention of quota leader Hardik Patel during one of the rallies triggered violence, which claimed the lives of ten people, including a policemen.
However, the agitation lost its sheen after the state government arrested Hardik Patel and three others under sedition charges.
Another Patel leader leading the quota campaign, Lalji
Patel, has been visiting different cities and trying to convince his community members not to vote for BJP in the local bodies elections.
"This is a semi-final for the 2017 state election polls. I have been telling people to not to vote for BJP," Lalji Patel said.
During the campaign Anandiben Patel and other BJP leaders had to face the ire of Patel community as they tried to hold protests during BJP rallies.
The Congress, which is not in power in any of the municipal corporations, is hoping to make a comeback in all of them riding on Patel quota agitation. The opposition party has given tickets to the wives of Patel quota agitation leaders.
"The anti-BJP atmosphere has been built by the police action against one community by the ruling party. The atmosphere is on our side and we are going to win these elections," state Congress chief Solanki said.
However, Chief Minister, during her various campaign meetings, accused that Congress was behind the Patel quota agitation. She also expressed confidence that her party will win the local bodies polls.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has offered online voting facilities for voters of all the six municipal corporations for which more than 20,000 people have registered themselves.
Apart from the elections of six municipal corporation, polls of 31 district panchayats, 230 taluka panchayats and 56 municipalities will take place on November 29. Counting of votes will be done on December 2.
