Gujarat:BJP wins municipal polls, farmers' protest has no impact

In the  municipal  elections in Gujarat, BJP put up an impressive fight and won all the six municipal corporations in the state.  The party got 44 seats in Bhavnagar, 50 in Jamnagar, 93 in Surat, 68 in Rajkot, 69 in Vadodara and 161 in Ahmedabad. For the first time, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also managed to win 27 seats in Surat while Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM bagged seven seats in Ahmedabad where counting is still underway, when reports last came in. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the results and said it is always an honour to serve Gujarat. In his tweet, Modi thanked the people of Gujarat. Results of municipal elections across the state clearly show the unwavering faith people have towards politics of development and good governance. Grateful to the people of the state for trusting BJP yet again. , he said.

I would like to appreciate the efforts of each and every Karyakarta of @BJP4Gujarat, who reached out to people and elaborated on our Party’s vision for the state. The Gujarat government’s pro-people policies have positively impacted the entire state.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 23, 2021

Union home minister Amit Shah called the results as one of the best in Gujarat."BJP has won around 85 percent of the seats it contested. Congress has suffered badly in this election. Congress won only 44 seats across Gujarat, while BJP bagged 44 seats in Bhavnagar corporation alone. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Dy CM Nitin Oatel also expressed gratitude to the voters and BJP workers for the results.

Farmers’ protest has turned the BJP into a punching bag for the Opposition. The victory of the Congress in Punjab civic polls was attributed to the anti-BJP sentiments in the state over the ongoing protest by a number of farmers’ unions at the Delhi borders. But the farmers’ protest seems to have had no impact in the Gujarat civic polls. The BJP continued to maintain its influence over the voters despite a multi-term incumbency in these bodies. This may strengthen the BJP’s argument that the ongoing farmers’ protest is a regional issue of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.