Ahmedabad: Voting began on Sunday for the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation elections, alongside polls in the Okha and Thara municipalities and various local body bypolls across Gujarat. The contests serve as a major test of political strength for competing parties ahead of the scheduled vote count.
Polling commenced at 7 am and is slated to continue until 6 pm, utilizing Electronic Voting Machines throughout the process. The State Election Commission previously announced the schedule on September 16, initiating the enforcement of the model code of conduct.
In the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation, elections are underway for all 44 seats across 11 wards, featuring 130 candidates. The primary political battle involves the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress, and the Aam Aadmi Party. The municipal corporation counts approximately 2.59 lakh eligible voters. During the previous elections held in October 2021, the Bharatiya Janata Party secured 41 out of the 44 seats, while the Congress won two and the Aam Aadmi Party captured one.
Meanwhile, polling in the Okha municipality covers 32 out of 36 seats spread across nine wards, as the remaining four seats were secured unopposed. Data from the State Election Commission indicates that 75 candidates are actively contesting these remaining seats. In the Thara municipality, elections are being conducted for all 24 seats across six wards, with a total of 59 candidates in the fray.
Additionally, bypolls are taking place for one seat each in the Kheralu, Chhota Udepur, and Bayad municipalities, as well as for vacant seats in multiple district and taluka panchayats across the state. Any necessary repolling is scheduled to take place on Monday, while the final counting of votes for all contests will occur on October 13.
To guarantee a free and peaceful electoral process, the State Election Commission has deployed extensive police forces and arranged regular patrolling, with a particular focus on polling stations classified as sensitive and hyper-sensitive.