The BJP in Gujarat appears confident of winning all eight municipal corporations which are going to polls on February 21. The ruling party wants to increase its tally of councillors and vote share in the polls.
“The Congress is unlikely to win seats in double digit in Surat, Vadodara and other civic bodies,” said State BJP president C.R. Paatil, who is spearheading the party’s campaign after Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was infected with COVID-19 and hospitalised in Ahmedabad.
The six corporations going to the polls are: Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar. The BJP has been in power in all four civic bodies except Ahmedabad and Rajkot since 1995 while in Ahmedabad and Rajkot, the party has been in power since 2005.
“We want to ensure complete rout of the Congress in local polls,” said Mr. Paatil.
There are 48 wards in Ahmedabad city, each having four municipal councillors. Similarly, there are 30 wards in Surat, 19 wards in Vadodara, 18 wards in Rajkot, 16 wards in Jamnagar and 13 wards in Bhavnagar.
This time, the Aam Aadmi Party is also contesting local elections projecting its Delhi model of providing free healthcare services through Mohalla clinics and improving standards of education in municipal schools in the cities.
However, the main fight is between the BJP, which has a solid base in urban areas and cities in the State and the Congress, whose main social base is in rural Gujarat and tribal pockets in north and central and south Gujarat.
