Gujarat polls: BJP sweeps all 15 corporators, crossing 50% vote share across the board

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recorded a landslide victory in all 15 municipal corporations on Tuesday. at home Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the saffron party’s approval rating crossed 50 per cent in every company.Voting for the civic elections was held on Sunday covering 15 municipal corporations, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats and 260 taluka panchayats.The polls are seen as one of the largest electoral exercises ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections, involving nearly 9,200 seats and involving more than 4.18 crore eligible voters.According to the State Election Commission (SEC), the voter turnout was 55.1% in municipal corporations, 65.53% in municipalities, 66.64% in district panchayats and 67.26% in taluka panchayats.Among municipal corporations, the newly formed Gandhidham in Kutch district had the lowest turnout at 46.03%, while Vapi in Valsad district had the highest turnout at 72.29%. The voter turnout in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation was 51.81%.Polls were conducted for the first time in nine newly formed municipal corporations, including Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Porbandar and Surendranagar.The elections were held under the revised Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation norms, which required extensive delimitation and constituency reorganization in several constituencies.The Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged as the main contenders, while the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) also fielded candidates in several constituencies.