Gujarat BJP hails GMC poll verdict despite tie with Congress

Ahmedabad, Apr 27: Notwithstanding the tie verdict in the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) elections today, BJP said its acceptability in the state capital has increased due to its "development-oriented policies".

The BJP and the Congress won 16 seats each out of the total 32. The Mayor and other office-bearers will now be selected through a draw of lots.

"In the last election in 2011, BJP had won 15 seats, while Congress won 18. This time, we added one more seat in our old tally, while Congress lost two in comparison to 2011. This shows that our support base has increased. We have definitely improved our position this time," Gujarat BJP president Vijay Rupani said.

He said the hard work done by BJP has resulted into people from Gandhinagar backing the party.

"As far as the question of the tie verdict is concerned, we respect the verdict given to us by our the citizens," Rupani, a minister in state government, said. He said people have rejected negative politics of the Congress and have "once again put their trust in the development-oriented politics of BJP".

Meanwhile, state BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya denied the Patel quota issue had any impact on the party's performance in GMC.

"Patel as well as other communities remained by our side in this election. Though Congress had tried to use the agitation (by Patels) for their political gains and tried to incite violence, people realised this negative tactics of Congress and rejected them," Pandya claimed.

PTI