Gujarat Gram Panchayat Election Results 2021: Litmus test for BJP, Congress as counting of votes today

Gandhinagar, Dec 21: Counting of votes for Gujarat Gram Panchayat elections 2021, which are seen as a litmus test for political parties ahead of the next year's Assembly elections in the state, will begin shortly. According to the state election commission, more than 77 per cent voter turnout was recorded during polling across Gujarat on Sunday.

Elections were held for 8,686 gram panchayats and 48,573 wards using 37,000 ballot boxes across more than 23,000 booths. A total of 27,200 candidates were in the fray for the posts of sarpanch, and 1,19,998 to become panchayat members.

It should be noted that a gram panchayat election is contested by a candidate in his personal capacity and not on party symbols, however, the candidates remain affiliated to one party or another. In gram panchayat polls, each person is required to cast two votes, one to elect the sarpanch and another for electing panchayat member for his ward.

Vadodara district witnessed a tie between two sarpanch candidates in Bakrol village of Waghodia taluka when Kanu Nayka and Shailesh Nayka bagged 401 votes each. The returning officer decided the winner by way of picking a chit. Kanu Nayka was declared Sarpanch.