34.82% polling in ward 22

VADODARA: The civic bypoll for ward 22 passed off peacefully in the city on Sunday, much to the relief of police and Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC). Though it was a by-poll for a corporator’s post, political parties, mainly BJP and Congress, had campaigned fiercely and were keen to win as assembly elections are due next year. However, the persistent campaign didn’t have much effect on voters as only 34.82 per cent voters turned up to cast their ballot.
Apart from BJP and Congress, the MahaGujarat Janata Party (MJP) and National Congress Party (NCP) too had fielded their candidates. “The poll passed of peacefully with no untoward incidents or clashes between party workers. Voters turned up in more number in afternoon,” said chief election officer, S P Munia.
The ward has 39,047 voters of which 13,597 voters cast their ballot. The total number of male voters was 20,190 of which 7,377 turned up to vote while the number of female voters was 18,857 of whom 6,220 voted. The voting percentage among male voters was 36.54 and for female voters it was 32.99 per cent. BJP had fielded Smruti Bhave as candidate and Congress fielded Parul Patel.
Controversy had erupted in BJP over Bhave’s selection as candidate as the constituency consisted mostly of Patel community. Some BJP workers protested against Bhave’s candidature. But, BJP leaders said that the issue has been settled and residents of Ward 22 are loyal BJP voters. But, the Congress feels that it will win the polls. “The disgruntlement among BJP has benefited us a lot. We will get votes from Patel community as we had fielded candidate from their community,” said Congress city unit president Narendra Rawat. The polls were also a challenge for Rawat as it is his first election after assuming the post of city president.
MJP had fielded Kaluti Shah and NCP had put up Kamini Desai as its candidate. The counting will be held on Wednesday.