The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday swept the elections to 35 civic bodies in Jharkhand. The party won 21 mayoral seats and 15 deputy posts.
Elections were held in five municipal corporations, 16 municipal councils and 13 nagar panchayats and a bye-election was held in one municipal corporation on April 16. There were reports of electronic voting machines malfunctioning at several booths, according to Firstpost. State election commissioner NN Pandey had said that the polling was mostly peaceful. The Election Commission recorded 65.1% voter turnout, 2% higher than the last elections. The elections were contested by the BJP, the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
The BJP’s candidates won the mayoral elections in all five municipal corporations, in seven of the 17 municipal councils and nine of the 13 nagar panchayats, an official told Scroll.in. For the posts of deputy mayor/chairperson too, the BJP led the way by winning the elections in all five municipal corporations, five of the 15 municipal councils and five of the 13 nagar panchayats.
The party’s mayoral candidate in the capital Ranchi, Asha Lakra, was re-elected.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das attributed the success to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP National President Amit Shah. “The victory has shown the public confidence in the BJP, from the panchayat level to Parliament,” Das tweeted.
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