Ahmedabad, Feb 19: A couple of months after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress were locked in a closely contested legislative assembly elections in Gujarat, the two parties, among others, faced off in an electoral fight for 75 nagar palikas (municipalities) across the state. The results of the civic polls are scheduled to be declared today. As per the trends released so far, the BJP is leading in 43 civic bodies, whereas, the Congress is ahead in 21.

Although the BJP continues to emerge as the most-preferred choice of the electorate, the result spells concern for the party as it had won 60 of the 75 nagar palikas in the elections conducted in 2013. Meanwhile, the Congress which held 11 municipalities, has scaled up its tally upto 21, as per the trends.

Apart from the 75 nagar palikas, two district panchayats, 17 taluka panchayats and 1,432 gram panchayats also went into polls on Saturday.

The gram panchayat seats are not contested on party tickets. Meanwhile, out of the 17 taluka panchayats, the BJP secured victory in 13.

The prominent among the 75 municipalities where elections were held on Feb 17 include: Kheda, Mahudha, Gandhinagar Mansa, Jamnagar Dhrol, Dhawatka, Sanand, Jafrabad of Amreli, Rajula, Chalaya, Lathi, Karamsad, Vallabh Vidhya Nagar, Mangrol, Manavadar, Bantwa, Chorwad and Visavadar.

The civic elections in Gujarat were closely monitored by pollsters as it came in the backdrop of the BJP's weakest poll performance in the past two decades in Gujarat assembly elections. The party was reduced to 99 in the 182-member assembly, barely 7 seat above the majority mark. On the other hand, Congress' tally jumped from 60 to 77 seats.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 19, 2018 03:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).