Gandhinagar’s first civic poll witnesses 55-60% voting

Maiden election of the newly constituted Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation was held today peacefully. According to initial estimates it witnessed 55-60% polling. A keen contest is between Congress and BJP here. Voting was held on EVM machines. The counting will be held on April 21.

There are 116 candidates in fray for 33 seats of the newly-formed municipal corporation which has been divided in 11 wards. The state elections commission had marked 30 booths out of total of 171 as “very sensitive.” There are 1,35,296 voters in the Gandhiangar Municipal Corporation (GMC), which is the 8th municipal corporation in the state.

The Gujarat high court had on September 17, 2009 ordered the state government to form a municipal corporation for Gandhinagar in six months.Following the order the state government had on March 17, 2010 announced formation of the civic body for Gandhinagar. Earlier, state capital Gandhinagar was a notified area and its administration was controlled by the state government.