Voting began on Sunday morning for the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) and three municipalities of Okha, Bhanwad and Thara in Gujarat.
Voting is also being held for by-elections to vacant seats in some municipal corporations, municipalities, as well as district and taluka panchayats.
People queued up outside polling stations to cast their votes. The process started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.
Election officials said around five per cent votes were cast in the first two hours in the GMC.
Elections are being held for 44 GMC seats, for which a total of 161 candidates are in the fray, including 44 each from the BJP and the Congress and 40 from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Apart from traditional rivals – BJP and Congress, AAP has fielded candidates in almost all the seats in the local body polls, which goes to polls on Sunday.
The election will be a test for the ruling BJP in the state, which brought in Bhupendra Patel as the new chief minister of Gujarat, with all ministers replacing Vijay Rupani.
Elections are being held for 78 seats in three municipalities of Thara (Banaskantha district), Okha and Bhanwar (both in Devbhoomi Dwarka district), for which 205 candidates are in the fray, including 78 from BJP, 72 from Congress, 52 from AAP. Are included. among others.
Votes are also being cast for by-elections to three seats in two municipal corporations – Ahmedabad and Junagadh – 42 seats in 26 municipalities, eight seats in seven district panchayats, and 43 seats in 37 taluka panchayats that have been vacant since elections in March. Had happened. Election.
24 candidates are in the fray for the eight vacant seats in district panchayat bodies, for which BJP and Congress have fielded eight candidates, AAP seven, etc. Bypolls are also being held for 43 seats in the taluka panchayat, for which 123 candidates are in the fray, including 43 from the Congress, and 28 from the AAP.
AAP has entered Gujarat politics with local body elections and has fielded candidates on all seats in municipal corporations, municipalities, district and taluka panchayat bodies.
Elections to six municipal corporations in Gujarat were held in February and all of them were won by the BJP. The BJP had also won most of the municipalities, districts and taluka panchayats in the February elections.
read all breaking news, breaking news And coronavirus news Here. follow us on Facebook, Twitter And Wire.
.