Polling is now underway in 15 municipal corporations, 84 municipalities, 34 panchayats and 260 taluka panchayats across Gujarat, the first of its kind in the state after an extensive special review of the electoral register, which was marred by allegations of pressure and inducements behind widespread withdrawal of opposition party candidates.
The local elections are held a year before the 2027 Lok Sabha elections in the state, where the BJP has been in power since 1995. In 2015, the Congress party gained ground in local polls. It carried the momentum into the 2017 Assembly elections, reducing the BJP to 99 in the 182-member House. The Congress tally rose to 77, the highest tally in decades.
In 2021, this trend has reversed. The BJP retained all major municipal corporations and expanded its control across local bodies. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has emerged as the second largest party in the Surat Municipal Corporation, replacing the Congress. In the 2022 Assembly elections, the BJP won a record 156 seats and the AAP five. The number of congressional seats fell to its lowest level in three decades, to 17 seats.
On Sunday, more than 41.8 million voters are eligible to vote for 25,537 candidates across Gujarat. Nine newly formed municipal corporations in Nadiad, Surendranagar, Anand, Navsari, Vapi, Morbi, Gandhidham, Porbandar and Mehsana will go to the polls for the first time.
The voting process began at seven in the morning and continues until six in the evening, with slow voting in urban centers. In Surat, about 5% of the votes were cast in the first hour, and 4% in the first two hours in Ahmedabad.
The State Election Commission said the average voter turnout in municipal corporations was 15.1% as of 11:30 am, municipal corporations 22.97%, taluka panchayats 22.12% and district panchayats 21.03%.
Electronic voting machine malfunctions were reported at multiple locations across the state during business hours, delaying voting.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won 736 seats unopposed, compared to 220 in 2021 and 37 in 2015. He rejected allegations that opposition parties blamed pressure and inducement for the withdrawal of their candidates.
On April 15, over 400 Congress and AAP candidates withdrew their nominations within hours across Vadodara, Surat, Mehsana and Banaskantha.
Former police officer ML Neenamma, former radio jockey Abha Desai, and former AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani are among the other prominent candidates in the fray. In Rajkot, the Congress fielded Nainappa, sister of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja’s wife, Revappa Jadeja, is a minister in the state government.
The election is the first since the implementation of 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC), 50% reservation for women, and rotation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Seven panchayat president posts have been reserved for first-time OBC candidates.
AAP got around 5,000 seats, the highest number so far. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen is also entering the fray, with its leader Asaduddin Owaisi campaigning in Ahmedabad and Bhuj.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his home state Gujarat ahead of the elections on March 31. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a tribal program in Vadodara on March 23. AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann held meetings from March 24 to 27.
The votes will be counted on April 28, and a re-polling is scheduled for April 27 if necessary.
