The ruling BJP is ahead in early trends as counting of votes for 576 seats in 144 wards across six civic bodies in Gujarat is underway on Tuesday. The six municipal corporations that went to the polls on Sunday are Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar. All these civic bodies are currently being ruled by the BJP.
The counting of votes began at 9 AM under the watchful eyes of the Election Commission. Polling in six civic bodies – Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar – was held on Sunday. All these civic bodies are being currently ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“Designated staff would begin the counting of votes from 9 AM on Tuesday at various counting centres in these six cities. People can watch live updates on our website,” said MV Joshi, secretary, State Election Commission had said on Monday. The State Election Commission (SEC) has said an average 46.08 per cent turnout was registered during voting which was held between 7 AM and 6 PM on Sunday.
Ahmedabad recorded the lowest turnout of 42.51 per cent, while Jamnagar saw the highest turnout of 53.38 per cent, followed by 50.72 per cent in Rajkot, 49.46 per cent in Bhavnagar, 47.84 per cent in Vadodara and 47.14 per cent in Surat. Of the total 1.14 crore voters registered in these major cities of Gujarat, 52.83 lakh had cast their ballots, the SEC said in a release. Elections to 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats are scheduled on February 28.