The BJP retained control of Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) after winning 38 of its 44 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party failed to win a seat in the civic body for the first time since its previous election, according to results declared by the State Election Commission on Tuesday.
The Congress finished second in Gandhinagar with five seats, while an independent candidate won one seat. The result gives the BJP a clear majority across all 11 wards of the municipal corporation and continues its control of the state capital’s urban administration.
The AAP had won one seat in the previous GMC election held in October 2021. Its Gujarat unit general secretary Manoj Sorathiya said the party had secured 21% of the vote in that election. The party’s failure to retain a seat marks a reversal in its representation in the corporation.
The BJP had won 41 of the 44 seats in the 2021 civic election, while the Congress secured two seats and the AAP won one. The latest result therefore reduces the BJP’s seat tally by three, but leaves it with a dominant majority in the 44-member civic body.
Elections in Gandhinagar were held across 11 wards, with 130 candidates contesting the 44 seats. The civic body has around 2.59 lakh voters. Voter turnout in the city stood at 59.25%, according to figures released by the State Election Commission.
The BJP also retained control of the other two urban local bodies that went to polls on Sunday. In Thara municipality in Banaskantha district, the BJP won 19 of the 24 seats, while the Congress won the remaining five. Voter turnout there was 81.18%.
In Okha municipality in Devbhumi Dwarka district, the BJP won 29 of the 32 seats for which polling was held. The Congress won three seats. Four additional seats had already been declared uncontested after only BJP candidates remained in the fray. Okha recorded a voter turnout of 63.27%.
Counting of votes for all three civic bodies began at 9am on Tuesday. The results mean that the BJP will continue to administer Gandhinagar, Thara and Okha through their respective elected municipal bodies. The State Election Commission’s declared seat figures establish the immediate composition of the three urban local governments, while the elected bodies will determine the political leadership and functioning of the municipalities through the next civic term.
