BJP wins majority in 23 out of 28 Nagarpalika in Gujarat

Ahmedabad, Mar 14 (UNI) In the just concluded local self-government Elections in Gujarat, Bharatiya Janata Party here today claimed to have won majority in 23 out of 28 Nagarpalikas (municipal councils) spread over 19 districts.

Out of 588 seats in 192 wards of 28 Nagarpalikas, for which the elections were held, BJP candidates have won as many as 377 seats or 82 per cent of total seats, a party press release here today said.

Similarly, the party spokesman Pururshottam Rupala in a statement said that BJP has also won four out of five seats in Byelections in four nagarpalikas and the lone seat in Gandhidham Taluka panchayat.

BJP National General Secretary and in-charge Gujarat Om Prakash Mathur and BJP State President Vajubhai Vala, among others, described it as the victory of Chief Minister Narendra Modi's development-oriented policies.

On the other hand, Gujarat Congress spokesmen Jayantilal Parmar and Girish Parmar claimed that there has been fall in the percentage of the votes by the BJP candidates due to active participation of citizens groups in the election.

They said that most of the Congress candidates, who have contested the elections as Independents, could have won more seats, but there was division of votes among candidates of secular parties.

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