The BJP in Gujarat has delivered yet another body blow to the Congress by sweeping 15 of the 22 district and taluka panchayat seats for which by-elections were held recently. Earlier, the ruling party had five seats compared to 17 of the Congress. The BJP’s victory has been comprehensive covering 15 of 26 district panchayats.
The results declared on Tuesday indicated that the Congress is losing ground even in the rural regions, once considered its pocket boroughs.
By-elections were held for three seats in Sabarkantha and Mehsana district panchayats in North Gujarat and Porbandar in Saurashtra.
The BJP won all the three, while the Congress earlier had two of them. Of the 19 taluka panchayat seats in 12 districts, the BJP won 12, up from four earlier and the Congress won seven.