Ahmedabad:
The voting for the local body elections of Gujarat started at 7 am on Sunday and will continue until 6 pm, with the counting planned for Tuesday. The elections relate to Junagadh Municipal Corporation, 68 municipalities and three Taluka Panchayats.
This is the first local body elections since the government of Gujarat in 2023 announced 27 percent OBC reserve in municipalities and Panchayats.
Even before voting, the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has already protected 215 seats, accounting for almost 10 percent of the total disputed seats.
Reports indicate that these seats left only one candidate in the fight after others had withdrawn their nominations, which eliminated the need for a competition. This still leaves a total of 5,084 candidates in the election race about the state.
Under the non -opposite victories of BJP, 196 seats include municipalities, 10 to district and Taluka Panchayats, and nine to Junicipal Corporation. The party received these seats after rival candidates had withdrawn their nominations, so that the road was cleared for undisputed victories.
To guarantee peaceful and honest elections, the election committee and the local authorities have implemented strict security measures. Police personnel were deployed at polling stations and improved monitoring systems have been introduced to supervise the voting process.
Historically, Gujarat has a rich electoral legacy. The first elections in the region were held in 1934 when it was part of the Bombay presidency, in which Ahmedabad Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar Koos, who later became the speaker of the central legislative meeting.
Since the formation in 1960, Gujarat has held regular local body elections to authorize the base administration. The State elections Committee of Gujarat supervises these elections and ensures free and honest processes.
In the local elections of 2021, more than 8,235 seats were disputed, chosen with 237 candidates.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
