Gujarat: BJP stamps dominance with 53% of vote share in civic body polls

Ahmedabad: Boosted by unmatched support from the electorate in Gujarat, especially urban voters, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured nearly 60% of all the votes cast in polls for municipal corporations in the state. The saffron party stamped its dominance over the state's urban landscape, pocketing 59.36% of the vote share.The Congress came in second with 26.46% of the vote share in municipal corporations, less than half of the BJP, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which fared relatively better in rural areas, pocketed 10.27 of the votes polled in big cities.All local bodies put together, the BJP's average vote share stayed at a healthy 53.78%. While its sheer dominance in municipal corporations is evident from the near 60% vote share, in rural segments like taluka and district panchayats, the BJP's vote share hovered between 51% and 52.5%. The Congress's overall vote share was 30.93 with AAP polling 10.08% of all the votes polled in the local body elections.The municipal corporation results announced on Tuesday stood out as the BJP's best performance across all tiers of local govt, cementing its continued strength in major urban centres. The outcome of the elections is also being viewed by observers as an endorsement of the party's decision to carve out nine new municipal corporations, adding significance to the party's urban support base.While the BJP stormed to victory in all the newly formed municipal corporations, it actually added 31 seats in the older municipal corporations, with Surat being a standout case where the saffron body picked up 23 additional seats.Although slightly lower, the BJP maintained a decisive lead in vote share in other civic bodies — municipalities, district panchayats and taluka panchayats — as well. The party secured a 51% vote share in the taluka panchayat polls, way ahead of the Congress's vote share of 32.89% and AAP's share of 12.67%.For the 34 district panchayats that went to polls, the BJP's share of votes stood at 52.37%, the Congress's at 33.7% and AAP garnered 12.4% of the votes polled. The scenario was not much different in municipalities, where the saffron party secured 52.51% of the votes polled, while the Congress came in second with 30.68% of the vote share. Interestingly, AAP fared the worst in this segment of the local body elections, getting just 4.89% of the votes polled in municipalities.The Congress's vote share remained relatively consistent across taluka panchayats, district panchayats and municipalities, ranging from about 30% to 33.7%, but it lagged sharply behind the BJP in municipal corporations. AAP maintained around 12% in most categories, but its weak municipality performance highlighted uneven support across regions.AAP's resurgence was most evident in rural areas of the state in the 2026 election. In the just concluded elections to taluka panchayats, AAP polled 17.18 lakh more votes than it polled in 2021. Of the total 21.48 lakh votes that AAP polled across 260 taluka panchayats, 1.18 lakh were in Narmada district alone, which has six taluka panchayats. Its vote share in taluka panchayats registered a steep increase from 2.61% in 2021 to 12.67% in 2026.In the district panchayat polls, AAP secured 17.1 lakh votes, at an average of 62,645 per district. In the case of Narmada district panchayat which the party stormed to power, the votes polled were 1.29 lakh which is double than the average votes polled in other districts. Political watchers say that as far as rural Gujarat is concerned, AAP certainly has staked claim to position itself as the third political front.State BJP spokesperson Prashant Vala termed the election result as a vote for pro-incumbency. "Even after being in power for two decades or more in local bodies, our voter share and seats have increased. It is a resounding endorsement of voter trust and faith in our national leadership," he said.Manish Doshi, state Congress media convener said that despite a "nexus" between BJP and AAP, the Congress increased its tally of seats across the board. "The BJP strategy was to divide anti-BJP votes and has succeeded to an extent, but the party is buoyed and in a fighting spirit for the 2027 election," he said.AAP leader Gopal Italia termed his party's performance as "historic. "From a mere 72 seats in all local bodies in 2021, the party has won one district panchayat and 13 taluka panchayats. This is a reflection that people of the state endorse our party's ideals," the leader said.
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