Gandhinagar, October 10 (Daily Kiran) : Voting for local body elections across Gujarat is scheduled for October 11, with all eyes on the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC). The elections will cover all 44 seats in the GMC, as well as elections for the Okha and Thara municipalities, alongside by-elections for seven other seats.
In Gandhinagar, 130 candidates will compete across 11 wards, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Indian National Congress, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) being the primary contenders.
For the Okha municipality, elections will take place for 32 out of 36 seats across nine wards, as four seats were won unopposed. A total of 75 candidates are in the running for these positions. In Thara municipality, 59 candidates will vie for 24 seats spread across six wards.
Additionally, by-elections will be held for one seat each in Kheralu, Chhota Udaipur, and Bayad municipalities, as well as one seat in the Devbhoomi Dwarka district panchayat and in the Padadhari, Satlasana, and Harij taluka panchayats.
Voting will occur from 7 AM to 6 PM. The Gujarat State Election Commission (SEC) has announced extensive police deployment and patrolling at particularly sensitive polling stations to ensure smooth operations.
The SEC has urged voters to cooperate with officials, expressing hope for a free, fair, and peaceful election process.
Vote counting for the elections and by-elections will take place on October 13. Observers will be particularly focused on the Gandhinagar elections, recalling the 2021 municipal elections when the BJP secured 41 of the 44 seats. The Congress won two seats, while the AAP claimed one, although both Congress councilors later resigned and joined the BJP, boosting the ruling party’s total to 43 seats.
This upcoming election follows the April elections for 15 municipalities in Gujarat, which did not include Gandhinagar and Junagadh. In those elections, the BJP emerged as the dominant party, with Congress trailing and AAP gaining limited ground.
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