by Ahmedabad: Voting for Gujarat’s local body elections started today, Monday, at 7 AM and will continue until 6 PM. The counting of votes is scheduled for Tuesday. This election covers Junagadh Municipal Corporation, 68 municipalities, and 3 taluka panchayats.
This is the first election since the Gujarat government announced a 27% OBC reservation for municipalities and panchayats in 2023.
Notably, before voting even began, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured victories in 215 seats unopposed, accounting for nearly 10% of the total contested seats.
Reports indicate that these seats saw only one candidate remaining after others withdrew their nominations, eliminating the need for polling. As a result, 5,084 candidates are now contesting across the state.
The BJP’s unopposed wins include 196 municipality seats, 10 district and taluka panchayat seats, and 9 from Junagadh Municipal Corporation. These victories came easily as opposition candidates pulled back their nominations.
To ensure a peaceful and fair process, the Election Commission and local administration have deployed tight security measures. Police forces are stationed, and monitoring systems are in place.
Gujarat has a rich electoral history. The first election took place in 1934 under the Bombay Presidency, where Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar from Ahmedabad was elected and later became the Speaker of the Central Legislative Assembly.
Since the state’s formation in 1960, local body elections have been held regularly. The Gujarat State Election Commission oversees these polls, ensuring impartiality.
In the 2021 local body elections, over 8,235 seats were contested, with 237 candidates winning unopposed.
(This news has been automatically generated from compiled feeds and has not been edited by HeyGujarat staff.)
News Source: NDTV
