Good news for BJP! Party sweeps Madhya Pradesh Municipal Elections

Bhopal: After registering victories in local body polls in Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday swept Madhya Pradesh Municipal Elections, winning 30 seats in the 35-member civic body.

Congress won four seats and the remaining one was taken by an Independent contestant.

In a shot in the arm for the BJP after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move, the party swept local bodies elections in Gujarat by capturing 107 seats out of total 123 seats.

Similarly, BJP made a near clean sweep in the polls to Kanakpur-Kansad municipality of Surat, where it captured 27 out of 28 seats, leaving only one to Congress. In Rajkot, BJP snatched Gondal taluka panchayat, which went for mid-term poll, from Congress by winning 18 out of total 22 seats.

Ahead of Punjab Assembly polls, the alliance of the BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal in December 2016 defeated Congress in Chandigarh municipal corporation election.

The win at the Bhilai-Charoda and Sarangarh municipal elections further came as a boost for the ruling BJP and Chief Minister Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh.

The results of the local bodies elections assume significance for the BJP in the run-up to the Assembly Elections this year, and that they were held just after the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes by the Centre.