After Maharashtra, BJP sweeps Gujarat civic by-polls
Of the 126 municipal and district panchayat seats in 16 districts to which by-elections were held, the BJP has won 109, wresting 40 seats from the Congress.
With less than a year to go for the state Assembly polls, this victory comes as a morale booster for the BJP.
The Congress has managed to win only 17 seats.
"i salute people of Gujarat for continued trust in BJP. BJP's great win in local polls shows people's strong faith in development politics," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a series of twits.
"These results across India illustrate that people want all-round progress of the nation & will not tolerate corruption & misgovernance," he said.
"Be it the Northeast, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat...BJP has performed very well. I thank the people," Modi said.
In Maharashtra, the ruling BJP has won in the first phase of key civic elections 851 of 3,705 seats across 147 municipal councils and 17 panchayats.
BJP candidates have won in 52 councils where council chiefs were elected directly.
Two top Congress leaders, Prithiviraj Chauhan and Narayan Rane, both former Maharashtra Chief Ministers, have lost seats in their areas.
Tens days after Modi announced that his Government was scrapping the Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes in order to curb black money and corruption, the BJP scored major victories in Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, while performing well in West Bengal and Tripura by-elections.
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