BJP’s ‘Mission 76’ to be tested, Cong hopeful

Vadodara: With the voting for the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) polls remaining near equal to the polls for the civic body in2015, the Congress and BJP have started making their claims for victory with the BJP seeming more confident amongst the two. The surge in voting in the last couple of hours has surprised many including the Congress.

Against voting of 48.71% in the 2015 civic polls in the city, the voting percentage stood at 47.84% on Sunday. The fall that is less than a percentage is expected to have only a marginal effect on the poll results.

Against this, the BJP had set a target of sweeping the polls with a cent per cent result and called the polls ‘Mission 76’. How many it actually wins out of 76 will be revealed on Tuesday.

BJP spokesperson Satyen Kulabkar said that the party was headed towards a landslide victory. “Seventy-six seats was the aim and mission of the party and we have worked hard towards it,” he said.

The Congress, however, maintained that it was on the track to reach the halfway mark.

“We will establish majority even if with a small majority,” said Congress spokesperson Narendra Ravat.

Former BJP organising secretary for central Gujarat Jitendra Rai who parted ways with the party recently, but is a keen observer of politics in the city, said that he expected no major surprise in the results. “The voting is also at par with previous elections and not abnormally high or low that would hint at a surprise,” he said.