BJP captures eighth municipal corporation in Gujarat

Ahmedabad, July 23 (IANS) The ruling BJP on Tuesday romped home with a thumping majority in the elections to Junagadh Municipal Corporation, thus continuing its rule over all the eight city corporations in Gujarat.The BJP retained its rule, capturing as many as 54 seats in the 59-member Junagadh Municipal Corporation in the politically important Saurashtra region. The opposition Congress could manage only one seat, while the Nationalist Congress Party picked up four seats.The State Election Commission announced the result on Tuesday.After the Congress' Lok Sabha debacle when it lost all the 26 seats to the ruling BJP for the second time in a row, the Junagadh result on Tuesday was the party's worst-ever performance in Gujarat.Jubilant over the party's victory in the Junagadh Municipal Corporation, Gujarat BJP President Jitu Vaghani said it was the "beginning of the end of the Congress in Gujarat."He claimed that the outcome in the Saurashtra city was a harbinger of yet another rout of the Congress in the 2022 Assembly election. "The Congress will be wiped out of Gujarat in the next few years," he asserted.
--IANS desai/kr