Gandhinagar: The deadline for filing nominations for Gujarat’s urban and rural local body elections concluded on Saturday, with a total of 32,748 nominations submitted for 9,992 seats. The final figures may change following the initial scrutiny process.

In around 70 seats across different local bodies, BJP candidates faced no opposition, as neither Congress, AAP, other parties, nor independent candidates filed nominations. The exact number of contested and uncontested seats will become clear after the withdrawal deadline on April 15.

Out of Gujarat’s 4.40 crore eligible voters, nearly 4.19 crore are expected to cast their votes on April 26. Elections will be held across 15 municipal corporations, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats, and 260 taluka panchayats.

Polling will take place using EVMs between 7 am and 6 pm, while the counting of votes is scheduled for April 28, according to the State Election Commission (SEC).

The elections are likely to witness multi-cornered contests, with BJP, Congress, AAP, smaller parties, and independent candidates competing for 9,992 seats. In terms of wards, voting will cover 7,353 wards, including 261 in municipal corporations, 668 in municipalities, 1,190 in district panchayats, and 5,234 in taluka panchayats.

A total of 10,005 seats will be decided, comprising 1,044 in municipal corporations, 2,637 in municipalities, 1,090 in district panchayats, and 5,234 in taluka panchayats.

By Saturday evening, 32,708 nominations had been filed by candidates from various political parties and independents, including 3,040 for municipalities, 5,784 for district panchayats, and 19,282 for taluka panchayats.

Additionally, by-elections will be conducted for 13 seats across 11 municipalities. The SEC commissioner noted that this will be the first major election after the implementation of 27% reservation for OBCs, and also the first election involving nine newly formed municipal corporations, seven new municipalities, and several new taluka panchayats. DeshGujarat