India News | Gujarat: Junagadh Civic Body Records 44 Per Cent Voter Turnout, 66 Municipalities 61.65 Pc
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Junagadh Municipal Corporation (JMC) in Gujarat recorded a voter turnout of 44.32 per cent, officials said on Monday.
Ahmedabad, Feb 17 (PTI) The Junagadh Municipal Corporation (JMC) in Gujarat recorded a voter turnout of 44.32 per cent, officials said on Monday.
A voter turnout of 61.65 per cent was recorded in 66 municipalities and 35.25 per cent in mid-term polls in Botad and Wankaner municipalities.
Elections were conducted on Sunday to JMC, 66 municipalities, and three taluka panchayats. Mid-term polls were held for Botad and Wankaner municipalities while bypolls were held for 106 seats of different local and urban bodies lying vacant for various reasons.
While JMC recorded 44.32 per cent turnout, Gandhinagar, Kapadvanj and Kathlal taluka panchayats logged an impressive turnout of 65.07 per cent, the State Election Commission (SEC) said.
Counting of votes will be held on Tuesday and results are expected to come out by afternoon, an SEC release stated.
Voting for the JMC was held through the EVM.
This was the first electoral contest for local bodies based on a 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in panchayats, municipalities and civic corporations announced by the Gujarat government in 2023.
A total of 213 seats were declared 'uncontested' as only one candidate remained in the fray for each seat while all other nominations were withdrawn, the SEC said, adding that 5,084 candidates were in the fray.
The BJP had earlier claimed that it was set to win these 213 seats in various local bodies, including eight seats of JMC, unopposed after candidates of other parties withdrew their nominations.
The BJP had also claimed that it is all set to win four municipalities of Bhachau, Jafrabad, Bantva, and Halol as the number of seats declared uncontested in favour of it is higher than the majority required in each of these civic bodies.
The Gujarat government, in August 2023, increased the OBC quota threshold in municipal corporations, panchayats and municipalities to 27 per cent from the previous 10 per cent based on the Justice (retd) KS Jhaveri Commission's report.
The existing reservation in local bodies for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes remained unchanged at 14 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively, maintaining the overall quota under the 50 per cent ceiling.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)