AHMEDABAD: BJP’s unstoppable landslide in Gujarat rural and semi-urban areas has once again underscored the saffron party’s tough-to-breach grassroots connect and Congress’s yet another failure to emerge as an option and inability to cash in on some issues that came on a platter.Despite grievances over crop losses, floods, water and power supply, and infrastructure issues, the BJP’s deep booth-level organization, welfare outreach, and the formidable Modi brand helped consolidate support.
Notably, the campaigning in this election was subdued AAP’s splitting of antiBJP votes further tilted the balance, while higher rural turnout reinforced the ruling party’s.
The official numbers tell the story of sheer decimation. The party has been virtually wiped off the map, drawing a humiliating blank in districts like Botad, Porbandar, Panchmahal, and Junagadh. Elsewhere, it barely registered a pulse, scraping together a mere two seats in the districts of Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, and Jamnagar outside the corporation limits. Even in belts where it managed to put up a semblance of a fight—Aravalli (12), Patan (13), and Banaskantha (16)—the BJP remained comfortably out of reach. Also, BJP will be the sole ruler in Botad and Porbandar district panchayats.Overall, the BJP won 7,491 out of 9,986 seats across local bodies, Congress bagged 1,740, and AAP 489 seats, while Independents and other parties, including AIMIM won 266 seats. The saffron party emerged victorious on 3,674 seats in taluka panchayats, on 892 in district panchayats, 1,988 in municipalities, and 937 in municipal corporations.Another stark example of the BJP’s brutal assault was seen in eight out of the 84 municipalities where it won all the seats, virtually leaving no opposition. These were Una, Sutrapada, Bayad, Gandevi,Mandvi, Gondal and Patdi.State Congress president, Amit Chavda, however, maintained that the resentment of the electorate against corruption and misgovernance of the BJP is reflected in the results. “The Congress will provide transparent governance in local bodies that we have won and will play the role of a responsible opposition as well. We will continue to work for issues faced by citizens,” he said.Jagdish Vishwakarma, state BJP president, said, “People of Gujarat have given Congress a befitting reply for its repeated attempts to show the state in a poor light. The election results reflect the victory of the visionary leadership of the BJP, its development agenda, and our committed party workers.”
