Counting of votes polled in elections for six municipal corporations of Gujarat, including major cities of Ahmedabad and Vadodara which began on Tuesday at 9 am is underway
As per the latest data, BJP has won 24 seats in Bhavnagar, 24 in Rajkot and 45 in Vadodara. Congress has won 5 seats. BJP has won 32 seats in Jamnagar so far.
Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which is contesting the elections for the first time is leading 17 seats. BJP currently is in the lead in the civic body elections.
Meanwhile, celebrations across the state began as BJP takes the lead in the civic body polls.
Polling for 576 seats in 144 wards across six civic bodies—Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, and Jamnagar—was held on Sunday (21 February).
The BJP is in power in all these civic bodies currently.
"Designated staff would begin the counting of votes from 9 am on Tuesday at various counting centres in these six cities. People can watch live updates on our website," said M V Joshi, secretary, State Election Commission (SEC).
The SEC has said an average 46.08 per cent turnout was registered during voting, which was held between 7 am and 6 pm on Sunday.
Ahmedabad recorded the lowest turnout of 42.51 per cent, while Jamnagar saw the highest turnout of 53.38 per cent, followed by 50.72 per cent in Rajkot, 49.46 per cent in Bhavnagar, 47.84 per cent in Vadodara, and 47.14 per cent in Surat.
Of the total 1.14 crore voters registered in these major cities of Gujarat, 52.83 lakh had cast their ballots, the SEC said in a release.
A total of 2,276 candidates were in the fray in these six civic bodies. In addition, nine candidates contested the by-elections to two seats in Junagadh Municipal Corporation.
The party-wise candidates are as follows: 577 from the BJP, 566 from the Congress, 470 from the AAP, 91 from the NCP, 353 from other parties, and 228 independents, they said.
Elections to 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats, and 231 taluka panchayats are scheduled on 28 February. The results are scheduled to be declared on 2 March.
(With PTI inputs)
