Surat: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) sweeping victory in Gujarat’s municipal corporation elections has resulted in 10 out of 15 civic bodies falling short of the mandatory 10% seat threshold required to appoint a Leader of Opposition (LoP).

In two corporations, Morbi and Porbandar, there is no opposition representation at all, as the BJP won every seat. In eight others namely, Mehsana, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Nadiad, Vadodara, Navsari, and Surat, the party secured over 90% of the seats, effectively preventing opposition parties from qualifying for the LoP post under existing rules.

Surat saw a sharp decline in the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) performance, with its tally dropping from 27 seats in the 2021 civic polls to just four this time. All four winning candidates were from Ward 17 (Puna East), including city unit president Dharmesh Bhanderi. Several key AAP leaders, including state general secretary Manoj Sorathiya and former LoP Payal Sakariya, were defeated. The Congress, which had no representation in 2021, managed to win only one seat.

AAP, however, managed to open its account in Jamnagar with two seats. In Rajkot, the Congress improved marginally from four to seven seats but remained well below the LoP threshold. The party lost ground in Vadodara by one seat and saw a steep fall in Jamnagar, where its tally dropped from 11 to two.

The results in Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation remained unchanged from 2021, with the BJP retaining 44 seats and the Congress holding eight.

Vapi Municipal Corporation offered the only relatively competitive contest. Out of 52 seats, the BJP won 37, the Congress secured 11, and the Adivasi Sena Party claimed four seats.

Ahmedabad, Vapi, Gandhidham, Bhavnagar, and Karamsad-Anand are the only five municipal corporations where the minimum seat requirement for appointing a Leader of Opposition has been met. DeshGujarat