By Express News Service
AHMEDABAD: Counting of votes is underway for the Gujarat Gram Panchayat elections, seen as a major test for political parties ahead of Assembly elections due in December next year. Results have been declared for half of the seats so far.
More than 77 per cent voter turnout was recorded across Gujarat during polling for 8,686 Gram Panchayats on Sunday, the state election commission said. A total of 27,200 candidates are in the fray for sarpanch posts and 1,19,998 for panchayat members.
While 1,165 panchayats and 9,613 wards were declared “totally uncontested”, with representatives elected unopposed, 473 sarpanchs have been elected where only one candidate was left after withdrawal of nominations.
Though Gram Panchayat elections are fought by candidates in their personal capacity, the polls are seen as indicative of larger political trends in the state. In the 2017 Assembly polls, the urban voter had preferred the saffron party, while the rural electorate largely sided with the Congress.
