Gujarat: Cong blames AAP for its rout in Gandhinagar civic polls; calls it 'B team' of BJP

Ahmedabad, Oct 5 (PTI) On a day the ruling BJP in Gujarat registered a massive victory in the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) election by winning 41 out of the 44 seats, the Congress alleged the Aam Aadmi Party played a spoiler by dividing the anti-BJP votes which ultimately favoured the saffron party.

The Congress called the Arvind Kejriwal-led party the "weapon to defeat" the main opposition party through a division of votes in favour of the ruling party.

Besides the GMC, the BJP has retained Okha municipality and won Thara but lost the Bhanvad municipality to Congress in the recently held elections, results for which were declared on Tuesday.

The AAP, which contested the local body elections in Gujarat for the first time and won one seat in the GMC polls rubbished the allegations and said the results showed the people of Gujarat wanted a change.

As per the final tally released by the State Election Commission (SEC), out of the total 44 seats in the GMC, the BJP won 41 seats, the Congress two and the AAP bagged one seat.

This is for the first time in a decade that the BJP scored an absolute majority since the formation of the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation in 2011. The BJP and the Congress had contested all the 44 seats up for grabs in the GMC. The AAP had fielded its candidates on 40 seats.

Gujarat Congress chief spokesperson Manish Doshi said the AAP received 21.77 per cent votes and Congress 28.02 per cent votes, which is 18.91 per cent lower compared to the vote share of Congress in 2016.

"This way, the BJP got 46.89 per cent votes in its favour and 49.79 per cent against it (votes that went in favour of Congress and AAP combined). Analysing the results, it is clear that the BJP has succeeded in its conspiracy to divide votes of people who are opposed to the ruling party. The AAP has emerged as the 'B team' to help the BJP retain power," Doshi told reporters.

Rubbishing the Congress' claims, AAP leader Ishudan Gadhvi said the results showed that the people of Gujarat are accepting the AAP as an alternative to the BJP and the Congress.

He claimed the AAP worked (campaigned) for only two weeks but still it won one seat and scored a "huge percentage of votes in the Gujarat capital. He said the AAP stood second in at least four seats (in the GMC polls) and lost several other seats by a thin margin.

Gadhvi claimed the people's response to voting was tepid as only 56.24 per cent of the registered voters exercised their franchise (in the Gandhinagar civic polls). Had the voting turnout been higher, the AAP would have had a better chance to win more seats.

"People have supported us, though we failed to bring them out to vote. Our campaign to strengthen the organisation will continue," Gadhvi added.

He said that the AAP has not entered Gujarat politics to divide votes in favour of BJP as claimed by the Congress party.

"We received nearly 22 per cent votes. We are not here for a division of votes (in favour of the BJP) but a change. Our actual target is the 2022 Assembly elections. We will continue to strengthen the organisation and meet the people's expectations for a change," he said.

Gadhvi alleged that the BJP won because of its strong organisational capabilities.

"The saffron party misused money power as also police and administration in its favour," he alleged. PTI KA PD NSK NSK NSK