The Bharatiya Janata Party stormed to power in all the five municipal corporations of Surat, Vadodara, Rakot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar, the elections to which were held on December 11, according to reports on Tuesday evening.
The Congress was completely washed away in all the five civic bodies, including Rajkot, where it had ruled, and had to be satisfied with just ten seats out of 69, the results of which were declared on Tuesday.
The counting began on Tuesday morning, amidst tight security in the five cities of Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar.
The BJP wrested power in Rajkot from Congress, which had ruled it for five years, after having won 44 seats out of 69 in the last elections in 2000.
In Vadodara, the BJP recorded a third consecutive win in the civic body. Of of the 84 seats, results of 81 were declared, in which the BJP secured 74 seats and the Congress six. One seat went to an independent and the results of three more seats were yet to be declared.
In Rajkot, the BJP won 59 of the 69 seats and the Congress ten, while in Jamnagar, out of 51, BJP emerged victorious in 37, Congress nine, Bahujan Samaj Party one and independents in four. In Bhavnagar, BJP secured 39 seats out of 51 seats followed by Congress, which won 12.
In Surat, BJP has won 90 seats out of 102 seats, Congress 11, while one seat went to an independent.
Against the backdrop of fresh dissidence against his leadership, Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday attributed the triumph to the 'teamwork' of party workers, rather than to himself.
Addressing a gathering of party workers at Khanpur, after the party had triumphed over the Congress, Modi said, 'though a newly-constituted young team had managed the entire election campaign, there was no environment of rebellion or ill-feeling among the elder party workers'.
"It is not a victory of a single person," Modi said, adding, "It is, rather, the triumph of all the party workers in the state who have toiled day in and out."
Modi asked party workers to guard against propagandist elements who were attributing the victory to him. The chief minister also did not lose a chance to hit out at the media.
"When there was some problems in the party, some of them (media) had predicted that the party would split into ten parts," Modi said. "These results are a slap in the face for such elements spreading false propaganda," he added.
More news: Gujarat
