Gujarat: Gandhinagar civic polls on Oct 11, results on Oct 13

Gandhinagar, Sep 16 (IANS) The Gujarat State Election Commission (SEC) said on Wednesday that elections to the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) and the Okha and Thara nagarpalikas will be held on October 11, with counting of votes scheduled for October 13.

The election notification for the three urban local bodies will be issued on September 21, according to a statement issued by the SEC.

Candidates will be able to file nominations until September 26, while the last date for withdrawal of nominations is September 29.

Polling will be conducted using electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The GMC election will cover 11 wards, with 44 Corporator seats up for election.

The civic body, established in 1966, was accorded municipal corporation status in 2010 and held its first municipal elections in April 2011.

The Congress won that election by a narrow margin.

In the 2016 GMC election, when the corporation had 32 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress won 16 seats each, resulting in a hung house.

Congress Councillor Pravin Patel subsequently defected to the BJP, allowing the BJP to form the board in the corporation.

The number of wards and seats was later increased after areas on the periphery of Gandhinagar were brought under the municipal corporation following a delimitation exercise.

The GMC now has 11 wards and 44 seats.

In the 2021 election, the BJP won 41 of the 44 seats. The Congress secured two seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won one.

The SEC has also announced general elections for the Okha Nagarpalika in Devbhumi Dwarka district and the Thara Nagarpalika in Banaskantha district.

The elections are being held along with bye-elections for seven seats that became vacant for various reasons in different district and taluka panchayats and other local bodies.

The commission has set the same broad election schedule for the three municipal bodies, with nominations beginning after the September 21 notification, polling on October 11 and vote counting on October 13.

The announcement sets the stage for the next electoral contest in Gandhinagar's municipal corporation, five years after the previous general election in which the BJP won an overwhelming majority of the seats.

--IANS

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