Results of Gujarat local body polls to be out on Tuesday

Ahmedabad, Apr 27 (PTI) Counting of votes for local body elections held in Gujarat a day before will be held on April 28, with the outcome of one of the largest electoral exercises expected to reflect the general mood of voters ahead of the next year's assembly elections.
    A voter turnout of 55.1 per cent was recorded for all 15 municipal corporations, while the polling percentage for municipalities, district panchayats and taluka panchayats stood at 65.53 per cent, 66.64 per cent, and 67.26 per cent, respectively, according to the Election Commission.
    Polling was conducted in 15 municipal corporations, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats, and 260 taluka panchayats covering 9,200 seats. More than 4.18 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise.
    Among the urban bodies, the newly-formed Gandhidham Municipal Corporation in Kutch district recorded the lowest turnout at 46.03 per cent, while Vapi in Valsad district logged the highest turnout at 72.29 per cent, the poll body said. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation logged a voting percentage of 51.81 per cent.
    Among rural bodies, the tribal-dominated Narmada district recorded the highest voting percentage of 84.49 per cent, while Porbandar district panchayat logged the lowest turnout at 50.80 per cent.
    According to officials, polling remained largely peaceful with no major untoward incidents being reported.
    Meanwhile, repolling was being held on Monday at a village in Surendranagar district, where voting was cancelled due to a technical glitch in an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), officials said
    The elections on Sunday were held under revised norms for Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations, which required extensive delimitation and ward restructuring in several districts.
    Nine newly-created municipal corporations, including Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Porbandar and Surendranagar, voted for the first time.
    The ruling BJP, the opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are the key players. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) contested multiple seats.
    Notable candidates include former Gujarat-cadre IPS officer M L Ninama, ex-radio jockey Abha Desai, and former AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani.
    In a first for AAP, the Kejriwal-led party contested around 5,000 seats in local polls.
    Other contestants include the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Independents.
    In March 2021, the BJP scored a landslide win in the local polls in Gujarat, winning 6,236 out of 8,470 seats across various municipalities and establishing a wide gap with the rival Congress.
    The BJP had then dominated all six municipal corporations, 81 municipalities, 32 district panchayats, and 231 taluka panchayats.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)