Gujarat civic polls: Cong recovers rural base; Hardik a non-factor for BJP in urban areas

by Swati Bhan If the elections of the municipal corporations and zila panchayats were a litmus test for Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel in the post Narendra Modi era, then one might term it as a success for Patel, if not with flying colours. The relief for Patel came from the urban areas where the Bharatiya Janata Party managed to retain all the six municipal corporations. For the opposition Congress it is a huge gain after almost a decade. The results were declared on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_2507758” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel. Reuters[/caption] The Congress, which managed to regain some of its lost political footprint in the state, has won 20 of the 31 district panchayats, a significant improvement over 2010 elections when it had managed to win just one. While the Congress is seeing the results as a fillip for the party and party workers, the BJP is drawing solace that the much-touted Patel agitation which had brought the state to a standstill a couple of months ago did not have its impact on the results in the urban areas. Even in Hardik Patel’s hometown of Viramgam the BJP has won. For the Congress the results have not come as a surprise as it has not only managed to reclaim its traditional rural seats but even in some urban centres it put up a decent perf ormance. “It is not just rural areas but even in urban areas the Congress has created an impact and Rajkot was an example,” said Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee President Bharatsinh Solanki. “With regain of lost ground by the Congress and the BJP retaining the urban areas the contest for 2017, when the state is scheduled to go for polls, it would now become an interesting political contest to watch out for,’’ said political commentator Vidyut Joshi. He said that this results would lift the morale of Congress and the BJP too would want to retain power in Modi’s home state.