Gujarat votes for 8,743 seats in various local bodies today

A few days after the results of the corporation polls in Gujarat were announced, the people in the state are voting for 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats, and 231 taluka panchayats today (February 28).

As many as 3.04 residents of Gujarat are going to vote for these polls for 8,743 seats, including 2,720 in 680 wards, 980 in district panchayats, and 4,773 in taluka panchayats, across 36,008 booths on Sunday, said the state election commission earlier. The state EC also said in its press release that the counting of the votes and declaration of the results of these polls will take place on March 2.

As many as 44,000 police personnel, which includes 12 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and State Reserve Police Units as well as 54,000 home guards, have been deployed across the state so that the voting would take place without any untoward incident.

The Congress party is trying to make a comeback in the state and trusts that the recent increase in prices of petrol and diesel will play an important role in how people vote in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party, on the other hand, wants to stay dominant in the region. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Asaduddin Owaisi is also vying to win some seats and its candidates are in the fray for the first time in certain seats in Modasa, Bharuch, and Godhra municipalities.

The election campaign for these polls came to an end on Friday (February 26). Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal conducted a roadshow in Surat on the last day of the campaigning. Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President CR Patil also did a roadshow in Navsari. and Congress's Paresh Dhanani, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, carried out a motorcycle rally in Amreli.