Gandhinagar, April 29 (IANS) Gujarat government spokesperson and Minister Jitu Vaghani said on Wednesday that the results of the local body elections in the state reflect a strong public response against what he described as “misleading propaganda by opposition parties”.

Addressing a press conference after a Cabinet meeting, Vaghani said the mandate showed continued public trust in the state government’s policies under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

Minister Vaghani added, “In the local self-government elections, the people of Gujarat have given a strong reply through their votes to those who spread misleading propaganda.”

He said the outcome indicated that voters had endorsed continuity in governance rather than change.

He added that the results also laid the groundwork for the 2027 Assembly elections.

Sharing electoral figures, Vaghani said the BJP secured 89.75 per cent of seats in municipal corporations, 81.83 per cent in district panchayats, 75.76 per cent in municipalities and 70.19 per cent in taluka panchayats.

“The party’s overall success rate stood at 74.96 per cent across local bodies,” he noted.

According to Minister Vaghani, this performance demonstrated trust across all sections of society.

“The results showed that support for the party had reached every level of the state’s population,” he said.

He also presented details from Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation, saying: “Electoral support was visible across multiple communities. The BJP fielded 16 candidates from the Koli community, of whom 15 were elected, while Congress won two out of 17 seats in the same category.”

In the Kshatriya category, Minister Vaghani said five out of six BJP candidates were elected, while one Congress candidate won.

Among Dalit candidates, three out of five BJP nominees were elected.

The Minister added that all BJP candidates from the Patel, Brahmin and Paliwal communities were elected.

He also said, “BJP candidates from Sindhi, Mali and Kardia Rajput communities won all seats they contested, while Congress candidates in these categories did not register victories. In the Maldhari community, both parties won one seat each.”

He added that BJP candidates from the Prajapati (Kumbhar) and Luhar communities were elected.

Vaghani said, “These results reflected support across different communities in the state. The figures indicated broad-based electoral backing for the BJP.”

Referring to the election campaign, he added that opposition parties had attempted to spread misleading narratives and inappropriate statements during the polling process.

He said, “During this election, attempts were made to spread misinformation on issues such as grain transportation and town planning schemes. The people of Gujarat responded through their votes.”

He added that post-election claims by the Opposition of emerging as a “strong alternative” were an attempt to rationalise their defeat.

“The Opposition should accept that they were not in this election to win, but only to sustain their existence,” Minister Vaghani said.

He also added that opposition parties should move away from negative politics and play a constructive role in public discourse.

–IANS

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