Campaign for Gujarat Panchayat and Nagarpalika elections over

Ahmedabad

The campaign for Panchayat and Nagarpalika(Municipalities) polls in Gujarat to be held this Sunday to elect ruling political bodies for 56 municipalities, 31 district and 230 taluka panchayats ended at 1700 hrs this evening.

Chief Minister Anandiben Patel led the ruling BJP’s campaign from the front and even held road shows in Patel agitation strongholds despite opposition from few people (whom she described as Congress workers) of her own community which was aggrieved at her stance on their demand of reservation and the stir for it.

Like the Municipal Corporation elections campaign Mrs Patel and other BJP campaigners made development of Gujarat their main poll plank. However, chief minister looked more vocal on the issue of Patel reservation in the second phase campaign and even launched some direct attacks on the Congress which she held responsible for alleged conspiracy to incite Patels to create unrest in the state through reservation agitation for political gains.

The Chief Minister held road shows in some Patidar bastions in Northen Gujarat (Mahesana) and later in Ahmedabad which started from Viramgam, the home town of the jailed Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel even though she had to face momentary opposition leading to the brief detention of jailed Patidar agitation leader Hardik’s mother and sister. She also expressed her open resentment against the thali-belan (dish and rolling pin) protests of the Patidar agitation women saying it won’t bring development to the state. Many of the Patidar reservation stir activists joined the BJP bandwagon during the run up to the polls. On the last day of the polling in Dediyapada of tribal Narmada district She said that no one snatch the reservation rights of the SC, ST and OBC community.

Congress on the other hand also held several meeting for the local polls campaign and attacked the BJP government for its ‘failures’. The party which was getting support from Patidar agitators also prominently raised the reservation issue and vocally supported Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel. It also attacked the state election commission and alleged it to have colluded with the ruling BJP. Even on the last day of the campaign the Congress legislature party leader Shankarsinh Vaghela today accused the commission of having colluded with the BJP by deleting thousands of names from the voters’ list in last Sunday’s first phase elections to six municipal corporations and warned of mass revolt if the same trick is applied in the coming Sunday’s polls to municipalities, district and taluka panchayats.

Addressing a press conference on the last day of electioneering, Mr Vaghela and state Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki alleged that state election commissioner Varesh Sinha had become a tool in the hands of the BJP government in the state.

The party also pitched in actress Nagma for its campaign in Vadodara on the last day today where she alleged that the women in the state were not feeling secured under the present BJP regime led by a woman chief minister.

As per the earlier official figures provided by the SEC (subject to modification) for the 56 municipalities there will be 1945 BJP candidates, 1801 Congress, 468 others and 1082 independents while 27 have been declared elected unopposed. Around 36.59 thousand voters would cast votes on around 47 hundred booths for over 2000 seats.

For 31 district panchayats there are a total of over 980 seats on which more than 980 candidates of both Congress and BJP around 200 others and 31 independents were in the fray.

For 230 taluka panchayats BJP has 7716 candidates while Congress has 4697. There are 657 others and 1595 independents. 54 have won unopposed. For both district and taluka panchayat the number of voeters was around 2.23 crore while the booths were over 28500.

Elaborate security arrangements will be in place with a total of 193 companies of various police and paramilitary forces apart from around 60000 other personnel of Gujarat police and home guards to be deployed for the peaceful conduct of the poll. It will include 47 companies of para military forces, 11 companies of police and border wing home guards from neighbouring Rajasthan, 10 companies of Maharashra police and five companies of Madhya Pradesh Police. Voting will take place between 8 am to 5 pm. Counting will be done on December 2.

Around 48 percent average polling was reported in the first phase of the polls held in the municipal corporations across six cities Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar held on November 22.

– DeshGujarat