Gujarat local body elections: 44°C to test voters’ mettle in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: Voters in the city will head to polling booths on Sunday under searing heat, with temperatures expected to touch 44°C — the highest this season so far. As the city prepares to vote in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) elections, the weather is likely to become a key factor influencing turnout.On Saturday, Ahmedabad recorded the highest maximum temperature this summer at 43.8°C, 3.6 degrees above normal. The minimum was 27°C, 1.9 degrees above normal.On Sunday, voting will take place for 190 out of 192 seats across 48 AMC wards, with two seats already declared uncontested. A total of 4,257 polling stations have been set up, where more than 38 lakh voters are expected to cast their votes. Counting will take place on April 28.The contest has drawn 652 candidates from major parties including BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), AIMIM, as well as independents. The BJP, which has been in power in the AMC since 2005, will be looking to retain its dominance. In the 2021 elections, it won 159 out of 191 seats, with one seat uncontested, taking its tally to 160. Congress secured 24 seats, AIMIM won seven, and one seat went to an independent.The voter base itself has also changed significantly. The final voter list released on April 1, 2026 shows 3,800,507 voters in Ahmedabad, a decline of 824,131 compared to 2021, when the figure was 4,624,638. In 2015, the city had 3,879,771 voters. Of the 48 wards, 45 have recorded a decline. Navrangpura saw the largest drop, with 29,939 fewer voters, while Nikol recorded the highest increase of 3,902 voters. Chandkheda and Maktampura also saw increases.Turnout remains a key concern. In past elections, voter turnout stood at 44.12% in 2010, 46.51% in 2015, and dropped to 42.51% in 2021. With temperatures expected to peak this time, there are concerns that fewer voters may step out. With the heat posing health risks, authorities have made extensive arrangements. Drinking water and shaded areas have been set up at all 4,257 polling stations. Medical teams have been deployed at key locations such as dispatch centres, polling booths and counting centres.Not just Ahmedabad, voters across Gujarat will face a tough choice between comfort and civic duty. On Saturday, Surendranagar was the hottest spot in the state with maximum temperature of 44.4°C, and people are unlikely to get a respite from the relentless heat on Sunday.More than 95% of the state's voters will exercise their franchise in the local body elections on Sunday, a poll that will gauge the mood of voters in Gujarat before the next general election less than two years from now. While the BJP holds a stranglehold over the civic bodies going to polls, opposition parties are looking to make gains in both urban and rural local bodies.Voting will be held from 7am to 6pm across 15 municipal corporations in the state. Nine of them — Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Porbandar and Surendranagar — are going to polls for the first time, along with 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats and 260 taluka panchayats.In total, 10,005 seats are at stake, including 9,992 regular seats and 13 byelection seats. Out of 4.40 crore voters in the state, about 4.19 crore are eligible to vote. Even before polling, the BJP has already won 731 seats unopposed.The saffron party built its campaign strategy around various development schemes and projects announced and implemented, even as Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah – the biggest talismans of the party."PM Modi's politics of development is being taken forward by CM Bhupendra Patel. Let us vote for politics of development to fulfil the goal of a developed India by 2047," said state BJP president Jagdish Vishwakarma.Meanwhile, Congress' state unit president Amit Chavda said, "We have promised accountable and transparent governance and inclusive development for all sections of the society. People of Gujarat will vote for change."The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the third political force in the state, has fielded about 5,000 candidates in the elections. State party chief Isudan Gadhvi said, "The BJP is scared of AAP's growing popularity, because of which cases were filed against AAP leaders during campaigning."
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