Ahmedabad (Gujarat): The Bharatiya Janata Party swept 26 of the 30 taluka and district panchayat seats on which bypolls were held on Sunday. Apart from it, the BJP won three seats unopposed, while the Congress could barely pull off victories in three seats. The remaining one seat was clinched by an  Independent candidate.

The Gujarat State Election Commission (SEC) issued a statement on Tuesday which read: "Out of total 33 seats, on three seats BJP candidates won unopposed. Elections were held on 30 seats, of which BJP won 26 seats, Congress three seats and one seat went to an Independent candidate."

Of the 30 that went to polls, three were district panchayat seats, with the Congress having an upper hand with two wins against the BJP's one.

The rest 27 were taluka panchayat seats and the break-up of wins was BJP 25, Congress and Independent one each, it informed.


Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani thanked the people for the party's good show, having got 29 of 33 seats, and said "the victory is a precursor to upcoming district and taluka panchayat polls".

Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani said the Congress tried to mislead farmers and the rural population but people had given them a befitting answer, adding that the opposition party's "divisive' politics had been rejected.

Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said his party accepted the verdict and would try to find out the reason behind it.

(With additional information from PTI)