BJP wins panchayat by-polls in Gujarat

In a boost to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi after his elevation as his party's 2014 general election campaign chief, the BJP in the state emerged victorious in panchayat by-polls held in three district panchayats. It also managed to snatch 12 out of the 19 taluka panchayat seats from the Congress.

District panchayat elections were held in Sabarkantha, Mehsana and Porbandar districts, while taluka panchayat polls were held in blocks of Valsad, Surat, Tapi, Bharuch, Vadodara, Panchmahal, Dahod, Anand, Gandhinagar, Sabarkantha, Rajkot and Junagadh districts.

BJP won all the three district panchayats, while capturing 12 out of 19 taluka panchayats, remaining 7 went to Congress. Before the elections, Congress controlled 2 out of the 3 district panchayats and were in power in 15 out of the 19 taluka Panchayats where polls were held.

"Resounding victory for BJP in Zila Panchayat & Taluka Panchayat elections across Gujarat. I congratulate our Karyakartas for their hard work," Modi tweeted on the results of the panchayat polls.

"Heartfelt thanks to people of Gujarat for placing their faith in us yet again and rejecting negative politics of Congress," he added.